Naruto- A Dangerous Dojustu
by KaosKontrol115
Summary: A new member of the Akatsuki is discovered and he possesses the Rinnegan! And it turns out he has more bloodline traits he shouldn't have. This is a story with my own original character in the world of Naruto and Naruto Shippuden.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

'Thoughts' will be done by Italic.

Anyway lets begin, i will include a summary of some of the main points of the story at the end of this chapter, if you wish to read it now or look at it afterwards, you may, but i am going to keep a lot of the details to myself, i don't want to ruin it before it has a chance to begin.

Chapter 1- The Boy.

This forgotten path in the Land of Fire has been empty, secluded on the borders and avoided from fear of attacks. The only ones to travel it are those strong enough to handle the bandits that roam these parts. Even so, this proved to be no problem for two men walking down the path in the middle of the night.

"That's the twelfth one tonight, did we have to go this way? I thought you knew your way around!?" The first to speak was rather tall compared to the other and had a very muscular build. He was wearing a straw hat that covered most of his face but even at night you could still glimpse his small rounded eyes, they seemed to be lifeless.

"I do, and they are no threat to us, also they wouldn't alert the Hidden Leaf, it's important for us to stay hidden." The second was not as threatening from how he stood, he appeared to be the weaker of the two.

"We can handle a few Leaf Shinobi. Not wanting to get your hands dirty?" The man glanced at his partner smiling while he taunted him.

"Just do what i say. Now be quiet, unless you want another annoyance finding us." He turned around and his eyes sent a strong message, the intensity of his stare made it clear he was in charge, he wore the same straw hat as well, covering most of his face.

"Fine." He admitted defeat as he turned forward and kept walking. The two men were wearing the same black coats with a red cloud insignia branded on multiple places of the coat and a chin high collar. What was distinctively different was what seemed to be a massive bandaged up sword on the taller one's back. "Do you feel that?"

"Hm?" He turned around as the wind started to get a bit stronger. "Kisame?"

"What is it now?" He turned to face him, the wind still getting stronger.

"This chakra feels strange." He looked back at Kisame.

"You look worried there Itachi. You're an Uchiha, act like..." Kisame was cut off as a big gust of wind hit them. Then out of nowhere something began to materialise right before them, coming through what looked like a wormhole  
was a body. "What the heck am i seeing!?" He yelled as he was being knocked off balance by the wind. With the body in full view the wind suddenly stopped and the body hit the ground like a rock. They both slowly walked closer. "Is it alive?"

"I'll check its pulse." Itachi proceeded to lean down and place his fingers on his neck. "Seems ok to me."

"Well that's a start i guess." Kisame seemed to be sceptical, still unsure about what happened. "Just  
wish he wasn't naked." The boy appeared to be in his early teen years and had no signs of muscle. His dark long untamed hair laid out on the ground. "Wake up you stupid kid!" The boy's body jumped when Kisame yelled but he didn't get up.

"We're wasting time, leave him." Itachi stood up and faced the boy, as he did he saw the boy opening his eyes. "..." Kisame started to walk off as he realised Itachi was frozen on the spot.

"Hurry up! Who's wasting time now huh?" He turned around to see a astonished look on Itachi's face. "What's wrong with you?"

"..." Itachi still stood there looking at the boy. "...Kisame."

"What is it!" Kisame getting a little tired of the situation walks up to Itachi and looks down. "So what's..." Kisame froze also. "That can't be what i think it is, there's no way anyone could just stumble on someone with... 'that'." The boy looked up at them to reveal his eyes were not normal, but they were light purple with a ripple like pattern spreading over his eyes. "Why does he have the Rinnegan!"

"..." Suddenly the Rinnegan fades revealing his dark black eyes and the boy passes out. "...We need to tell the others.""How do you suppose we do that? Just take him with us and say 'look what we found in the middle of nowhere' cause I doubt they'd believe us." Kisame still couldn't believe it himself.

"Well what else do you suggest we do? We have a member of the Akatsuki with the Rinnegan and we know the power it holds, we can't just ignore this Kisame." Itachi backtracks down the path, finds some clothes off one of the bandits Kisame killed, covered up the boy and picked him up over his shoulder. "We will leave him with Pein and then continue to hunt the Nine-Tails."

"Oh this is going to end well, Pein thinks he is God because of his Rinnegan, how is he going to take this?" They start walking back the opposite way towards the Village Hidden in the Rain. "Do you think he'll freak out?"

"I can't tell you how he will react to this, we will just have to wait and see, now be silent, i don't want  
to be talking all the way to the Hidden Rain." Itachi then turned away from Kisame. _'All i know is this boy has an enormous amount of chakra.'_

They gradually made their way back to the village and the boy occasionally opened his eyes on the way, but the Rinnegan wasn't active, still dormant behind those dark black eyes. "Itachi! Come on don't just pretend I'm not here. We should think this through, if the Rinnegan isn't showing the others may not believe us." Kisame was still bugging Itachi even though he was ignoring him.

"I..ta..chi." Kisame and Itachi froze. The boy finally spoke after all that time. "Itachi..." Even though all  
he could manage to say was the young Uchiha's name. Then he passed out again.

"Looks like he's taken a liking to you." Kisame teased. "Too bad now, we are here so we better drop him off." They had arrived at a massive tower in the middle of the Hidden Rain.

"Why are you two here, Pein won't be happy about this." Itachi and Kisame turned around to see a woman with blue hair and amber eyes, she had a very expressionless face along with a piercing under her lip and a flower in her hair. "That boy better be the Nine-Tails."

"Umm, well this isn't the Nine-Tails but-" The woman's face twitched, it almost seemed like she had an angry expression. Kisame was panicking a bit from this.

"Konan." Itachi faced her and she calmed down. "This boy has something that would interest Pein." Konan stared at Itachi, as if to say 'tell me already'. "He possesses the Rinnegan." They all remained silent.

"Impossible..." Konan muttered finally breaking the silence.

"It's true Konan, why would we lie!" Kisame stepped in. "We saw it ourselves."

"..." Konan stared at the two and they both knew not to say anything this time. "...Follow." She finally said as she went inside the tower with Itachi and Kisame close behind.

"Well that went well." Kisame whispered to Itachi, who was still ignoring him.

'This boy better show the Rinnegan again, or-' Itachi's thought was cut off.

"We're here, you can tell him yourselves." Konan said as she walked off. Kisame went to open the door when Itachi stopped him.

"What's the big deal?" Itachi shoved him aside.

"You're not to say a word while we are in there." Itachi then opened the door to see six red-headed males in machines all with the same cloak as Itachi and Kisame. "Pein." At that moment one of the males stepped out of his machine. "We have something you need to see." The man approached Itachi.

"What is it." He said very bluntly.

"This boy has the Rinnegan." He said as he took him off his shoulder and held him with both hands. Pein remained silent and didn't show any signs of moving until he opened the boys eyelids himself. There was silence until Pein muttered.

"Almighty Push." Suddenly the boy flew out of Itachi's arms and slammed hard against the wall. "Is this some kind of joke?" Itachi and Kisame were speechless. "Itachi I never expected this of you."

"I..ta..chi." They all turned to see the boy was standing, but barely.

"That's impossible. Where did you find this boy?"

"Itachi." The boy kept repeating. "ITACHI!" The boy yelled before raising his hand at Pein.

"What is he d-" Pein got cut off as he was lifted off the ground. "What's happening." He said before his body was flying towards his machine in the same fashion as his own Almighty Push. He crashed into the machine at a blinding speed.

"Itachi what just happened!?" Kisame yelled as they both turned around to see the boy panting heavily with his arm still raised and his Rinnegan eyes glaring at Pein. "They activated again. Why did he yell your name like that?"

_'He must have thought he was protecting me.'_ Itachi thought to himself as Pein finally got back up from the rubble of the machine.

"How is this possible!" Meeting the boys stare he saw the Rinnegan staring back at him. "Where did you find him!" Pein was highly agitated from being hit by his own signature move.

"We found him in the Land of Fire, he just appeared out of nowhere." Kisame explained,

"Itachi." The boy looked straight at Itachi as his Rinnegan faded once more and he collapsed on the floor. Itachi walked over and picked up the boy. The other two just stood there in silence, not believing what  
they saw.

"He must think a lot of you, how does he know your name? Pein questioned. It seemed like he calmed down.

"He must have heard it from me when we were talking on the way here."

"Don't you mean 'you' talking Kisame. I don't remember speaking to you on the way here." Itachi then walked over to a table at the end of the room and placed the boy on it.

"What do you suppose we do about him Itachi." Pein asked. Making it seem like this was somehow his decision.

"Why would you ask me? I'm not the leader of the Akatsuki."

"But the boy thinks highly of you. I'll leave his fate in your hands." Pein already knew his answer though.

"I think it's best that he stays here with you and learns how to use the Rinnegan."

"And?" Pein didn't hear the right answer.

"And becomes a member of the Akatsuki, we can't let anyone else have him with this power." Pein heard the  
answer he was expecting and raised his arms up."

"Then this boy will be a member of the Akatsuki!"

End for Chapter 1.

Ok firstly before you think I'm just making the Rinnegan stuff up randomly I'm not, his Rinnegan was acquired the correct way unlike Nagato. I just had to think of a way where this was possible and then go from there. (Although the way he gets it will not be explained for a while, unless you figure it out yourself.) I will take any constructive criticism that comes to light because i know I'm not the greatest writer in the world. Feel free to give me a review telling me what i did wrong. I'm sorry to those that already read this or followed it. I reposted this because it had a few errors I needed to correct. It won't happen again.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

'Thoughts' will be done by Italic.

I have decided to do the Shippuden timeskip. I feel as if this will be better suited to how i want to tell the story and even though there are a lot of part i will have to flashback to, i still feel that this way will work better. Also the story will have a lot of thought sections from the main character (Who's name is revealed this chapter) so we can get more in depth with him.

Chapter 2- True Vision.

_'Finally making a move on the tailed beasts after all this time. I've gone through so much to get to this point. Almost 3 years of training and I'm now ready to assist my comrades.'_

"We are almost at the Hidden Sand"

_'I awakened my Rinnegan powers thanks to Nagato and learned how to use my other abilities with Itachi.'_

"Are you listening kid?"

_'I couldn't have done this without Itachi, he saved me after all.'_

"I don't like to be kept waiting you know."

_'I'm just happy I'm helping no-'_

"Kazumu!"

Hearing his name snapped the young man out of his delirium but then it made him remember the day he was named. It had been a while since the boy had been found by Kisame and Itachi, but he couldn't speak much and his muscles we barely developed. It was as if he was only just born. After a week or two he was able to walk just fine but his speech was still hindered, but his main source of speech was saying 'Itachi' over and over. All the Akatsuki members were meeting to discuss the training needed for their new member. For him to be a valuable asset to them, he needed to learn how to use his abilities to the fullest. "How do you suppose we handle this?" Pein was first to question the method of his training.

"Well you'd think that the one with the Rinnegan would teach him." A grey haired ninja with a three-pronged scythe snapped at Pein.

"Shut your mouth Hidan, that's not only thing he needs to learn you know." A tall man with bright green eyes stepped in to tell his partner off.

"But Pein could teach him the basics as well. There is no problem with that is there!" Now standing, Hidan was yelling back.

"Enough. Hidan and Kakazu be silent." Pein had heard enough. He wasn't on board with teaching everything there is to know about being a shinobi either. "Does anyone want to actually volunteer to teach the child?" At the very start of that question everyone was silent. No one seemed to be interested in taking on the responsibility. Until a hand was raised.

"i'll do it. Until he is ready to use the Rinnegan i will train him." The one who stood up was Itachi.

"I had a feeling you would want to do this." Pein looked at Itachi, who was avoiding eye contact with him.

"I have a condition." The room was completely silent. Itachi wanting something for this seemed very unlike him.

"Speak your demands Itachi." Pein was starting to regret this.

"I want to ..." He muttered the last half of his sentence under his breath.

"Want to what?" Itachi stood up and said.

"I want to name him." Itachi had a very serious look on his face.

"That's a small demand for all your effort. Are you sure that is all you want?" It seemed like Pein was a little confused that Itachi only wanted that much, but he didn't know how much it meant to Itachi.

"Yes."

"Then it is decided. Until his Rinnegan is active and can be used at will. You will train him." Pein got out of his chair and walked over to a door. "Come out here boy." The door opened to reveal the young man that was found that night. "He's all yours Itachi."

"Itachi?" The boy said. As if he was questioning everyone about what just happened. Itachi approached him and placed his hand on his head.

"Lets go." He began to lead his new student out of the room as he muttered the boys name. "Kazumu."

"I'm tired of waiting Kazumu!"

"Oh, sorry about that Sasori." He bowed to his partner. "I was just thinking about this being my first mission of sorts"

"Don't let it go to your head kid. How did you become so upbeat by hanging around Itachi anyway?" Sasori looked as though he weighed a ton. Lugging around his huge hunchbacked body.

"I guess I am who I am." Kazumu looked at himself. he had changed a bit. His build was small but muscular, he was a fair bit taller, his hair was still long, black and untamed and he was wearing the same black robe as all the other members of the Akatsuki, he was also wearing the same straw hat along with Sasori, but one thing in particular stood out with his new appearance.

(Flashback two and a half years ago)  
"Ok Kazumu we are going to start today's training." Itachi was surprised with the progress of his student.

"But i'm still tired from yesterday training!" Kazumu didn't seem to be to interested in his teacher.

"Well we need to go over a few things. Come here." He beckoned Kazumu to him. He sighed.

"Fine then." Itachi was beginning to regret letting him hang around Hidan and Kisame. "What do we need to go over?"

"Can you activate your Rinnegan at will yet?" For some reason Kazumu seemed surprised at his question.

"What's a Rinnegan?" Itachi couldn't believe what he just heard.

"It's the same thing Pein has in his eyes." Itachi said this sounding disappointed.

"Oh i have that!" He seemed too surprised about this. "I thought i had the same thing as you?"

"Why would you think that you have the Sharingan? Itachi was getting a little agitated.

"Because i do!"

"I don't believe you." As he said this the young man had his hands together in the Ram hand sign, gathering chakra. "You won't be able to do it by concentrating more." Itachi looked at him like he was an idiot until.

"Sharingan!" Sure enough they boys eyes turned red and two Tomoe surrounded each pupil.

"How did you do that!" Itachi was stunned. This boy possessed the Rinnegan and Sharingan.

"I've always been able to do it I think." he seemed unsure when Itachi placed his hand on his head.

"I guess I was always the best choice to be your teacher." Kazumu looked up and smiled.  
(Flashback end)

Kazumu had fully developed Sharingan eyes now. Itachi really was the perfect teacher for him. "So where are we going again Sasori?"

"Use your ears Kazumu! We have to get the One-tail from the Hidden Sand." Sasori was sick of him by this point.

"Oh yeah!" It looked like Kazumu had finally woken up. His facial expression turned very serious. "How far away are we?"

"We'll be there in an hour or so." Sasori liked the level of attention he was paying to his mission now.

"Anything important i should know about the target?"

"He is no easy target. He's the Kazekage."

"What! My first target is a Kage?" Kazumu was stunned by this. 'A Jinchuriki was hard enough let alone be one of the five Kage.'

"Problem?" Sasori glared at him.

"well this is the first time I'm fighting so i'm a little concerned."

"Get over it. I won't have my partner freezing up over something so trivial. He's a target, nothing more."

"Ok i'll cool down." Kazumu settled down and kept on walking.

"That's better. Get ready we are almost there." On the horizon you could see an enormous village. "I'm letting you take the lead on this one kid."

"Is that a good idea? Don't you think i'll need help at all?"

"Besides a 'puppet' that's been working for me on the council of the Hidden Sand who can clear the gate for us, i won't be assisting you." Sasori was very serious about this.

"Ok, i'll remember that." Kazumu was beginning to get nervous.

"Just remember your training and you'll be fine." Sasori said as they arrived at the Village Hidden in the Sand. They looked at the entrance and it was littered with dead bodies. A Sand shinobi with black hair and a goatee approached them. He had an odd expression on his face.

"Is this the 'puppet'?"

"Yes. You've done good work. Do you remember who I am?" Sasori looked looked at the man.

"How could I forget, Lord Sasori." The man then got down on one knee bowing to his master.

"This is a good way of getting in isn't it?" Kazumu commented. "Lets get going." He had already taken charge. Just like he said

"Just don't keep me waiting Kazumu."

"Gotcha." Kazumu then closed his eyes. After a few seconds he opened them again. "Deva Path!" His Rinnegan was active when he opened his eyes and he began to float. "I'll do a check of the security then attack at sundown." He said as he flew away.

_'I wonder if he's ready for something like this'_ Sasori though to himself.

"Ok I've waited long enough, time to strike. I need to eliminate most of the guards at once so i better gear up." He floated higher and set himself up in the middle of the village. "It will be interesting using this thing for real, but there is a first for everything." Kazumu closed his eyes again and readied his hands to the Ram handsign. "Byakugan!"

End for Chapter 2.

Yes Kazumu is the name and having all three Dojutsu is the game. The reason behind all this will be explained through the course of the story, i didn't just give him random jutsu for fun. Even though that is a lot later in the story. I replaced Deidara for the first Akatsuki appearance in Shippuden because it is the main one, especially with Gaara in the picture, Which means Deidara is already paired with Tobi i guess. I am making Kazumu's main partner Itachi because of the bond they share (this is not a pairing, i mean a brotherly bond nothing more) but again if anyone has any suggestions just let me know, i actually wrote this pretty fast. The reason for the title is that the name Kazumu stands for True Vision, Kaza and Mu. Feel free to send me a message or review.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

_'Thoughts'_ will be done by Italic.

I'm sorry again for reposting the story but I had a few big mistakes I needed to fix. Anyway i will make this chapter pretty long to compensate. It is the fight with Gaara after all.

Chapter 3- The Kazekage.

(Flashback one year ago)  
"Kazumu. Do the drill one more time for me." Itachi readied several shuriken in his hands.

"Sure thing Itachi." He took a stance, with no eye techniques to help him. Itachi then threw a single shuriken at Kazumu. "Is this a joke Itachi?"

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Justu!" Suddenly that one shuriken turned into thousands of them!

"Crap!" Kazumu panicked a bit but kept his stance and when they reached him, they didn't leave a scratch, either being hit away by his kunai or completely dodged. It was an amazing sight to behold. He finally managed to dodge the last one after doing a massive backflip. "What was that Itachi! Warn me next time!"

"But you didn't need the warning. You avoided all of them." Itachi was actually proud of him.

"I guess I did." Kazumu smiled. "Ok lets do it again!" As they continued to train, Kisame and a wierd two coloured man who looked like a Venus fly-trap were watching the training session.

"So Kisame. How is he doing?" The guy spoke in a really weird way. Sounding completely insane.

"Well he's a lot better than he used to be, but I know you don't actually care Zetsu. So what's your deal?" Kisame was a little interested in why Zetsu would hang around here.

"Well do you have a kunai on you?" Zetsu sounded different this time. His voice was deep and sounded more evil than anything else.

"Got a few. Why do you care about my kunai."

"I just think we should give the kid some tough love and 'train' him." Zetsu was smiling like a fool. "Throw the kunai into his shoulder from here. He won't see it coming."

"Heh. Sounds like fun i guess." Kisame picked out a kunai and began spinning it. Then held it in his hand before throwing it at full speed towards Kazumu. "This is gonna be good." Kazumu was to busy doing the drill to notice the kunai coming at him at all but just before it slashed at his shoulder he span around and smashed it back at Kisame. Missing Kisame by about an inch, Itachi dispelled the Shadow Shuriken Justu and Kazumu just stood there staring at Kisame. "How could he have possibly seen that coming!" Kisame then looked back at Kazumu as he noticed some thing odd about him. His eyes were completely white and there were veins bulging around his eyes.

"Itachi my vision is all messed up! Help me!" Kazumu fell to the ground as his new Dojustu started acting up.

"What the-" Itachi got a good look at his eyes. "The Byakugan?!" Kazumu just laid there panting not understanding a word. He was more scared than anything.  
(Flashback End)

"Byakugan!" His eyes turned pale and white as the veins around his eyes bulged. "Good. With this I can see every guard there is in this village." Kazumu had pinpointed the location of all the guards using the Byakugan as he suddenly took aim. "Sorry guys but you're clocking out early!" He the threw an insane amount of kunai at once. Sending them in every direction as one by one all the Hidden Sand's Shinobi guarding the rooftops dropped. "That should just about do it." His eyes returned to the Rinnegan and he started flying towards the centre of the village. "This might be easier than i thought!" He landed on the Kazegage's building and was about to enter when he was stopped. "Uhh, Hi?"

"Who are you." A young man with red hair and green eyes was waiting for him on the building. He was wearing a big gourd on his back and sand was flaring around him. "I won't ask again."

"I assume you're the Kazekage I've heard so much about." Kazumu readied his Rinnegan.

"That would be correct. Now leave." Suddenly the sand charged at Kazumu.

"Ahh!" He wasn't expecting an attack so quickly. "Almighty Push!" He used the Rinnegan to block the sand and then he flew into the sky, the sand still right on his tail. The Kazekage was just standing on the spot coordinating his hands to control the sand. _'This is insane! I can't get too close and i'm too slow to stay away for too long! I need to get out of this and fast.'_ Kazumu then started flying towards the ground at an incredible speed. "This should do it. Animal Path! Summoning Justu!" He hit his hand on the ground and a black glyph appeared on the ground A massive while cloud of smoke erupted from it as a giant bird came out, It also had the Rinnegan in it's eyes and two black rods sticking out from its neck. "Hey! Get here you stupid bird!" The bird flew right past Kazumu and he jumped on, narrowly avoiding the massive sand wave that was right behind him. "That was too close." He floated there in the sky with the bird as the Kazekage gathered up sand and jumped onto it. Creating a platform to fly around on. "Huh. That's creative." The Kazekage then floated up and was opposite to Kazumu. "So what do I call you. Kazekage?" He definitely wasn't taking this very seriously.

"Gaara." He said very bluntly. His voice had a creepy but caring quality to it.

"Well I'm Kazumu." He performed a mock salute to Gaara. "This is my first mission so I'm sorry if I don't measure up to your expectations." Gaara was really confused. He was a member of the Akatsuki but he was acting so formal about this.

"Why are you here." Gaara decided to find out as much as he can.

"Well you have the One-tail right?" Gaara nodded hesitantly. "Well that's what I came to get. My orders are to take you and seal the Shukaku."

"I've heard enough." Gaara wasn't happy about his answer and lifted sand from the village and had gathered it all behind him.

"Why did I have to fight a sand manipulating shinobi in the desert." Kazumu realised his disadvantage and took off with the bird with the sand right behind him. _'He makes it impossible to fight back yet he is on the offensive so easily. I wonder if i can use any other paths to help.'_ He turned to face the sand coming behind him.'_Of course! That will work!'_ Kazumu raised his hands together towards the sand. "Preta Path!" A blue energy began to seep out of the sand and surround Kazumu. He absorbed it and the sand dropped to the ground. "That should keep the heat of me for now, and it makes up for the chakra I lost flying in the Deva Path." Kazumu was suddenly over shadowed by something. "Crap! I wasn't paying attention!" A massive sand wave was heading straight for him. Surrounding Kazumu very quickly._ 'I'm not going to make it!'_ He was right, just before he almost escaped the trap, he smashed into some sand and was sucked into the huge sand mass Gaara created. Gaara stared at the sand, making sure it was really over. "Deva Path! Almighty Push!" A huge gravitational force completely expelled the large sand barrier and Kazumu began falling to the ground. 'Damn, it's going to take me a bit of time to recharge from that. Also I lost my summon to that stupid sand.' He continued to fall as the sand was surrounding him again. "No you don't!" Kazumu readied his hands again. "Preta Path!" He absorbed the chakra out of the sand again. The sand dropped soon after "Deva Path!" Kazumu began to float on his own again _'This stupid flying takes up way too much chakra, but i have no choice at this point. I need to end this amd fast!'_ He flies as fast as he can towards Gaara and raises his hand. "Almighty Push!" Gaara flies off his sand platform and falls towards the ground but sand began to come out of his gourd and quickly recovered him._ 'Damn! That sand is quick'_ He kept flying toward him on the offensive while Gaara was recovering There was now a sand cocoon surrounding Gaara. _'That's it i have to go for it. I'm running out of chakra!'_ Avoiding the sand flying at him in all directions he raised his hand at the barrier. "Preta Path!" At this distance he was only able to take off one chunk of the sand from the barrier by absorbing the chakra it held but that's all he needed. He flew faster towards the cocoon and put his arm through it. Sand quickly enclosed his hand inside trapping it. "Game over Gaara. Asura Path!" Kazumu's arm inside the shell of sand began so change and morphed into some kind of cannon. Aimed directly at Gaara. His arm was completely mechanical in this Path. "Fire!" The cannon lit up and Gaara's eyes widened.

"No!" Gaara got hit at point blank range by a condensed chakra blast coming from Kazumu's arm. The sand around the barrier was silent and then began to drop.

"That's better I have my arm back." Kazumu didn't realise it but there was lots of sand shinobi on the rooftops preparing an attack to save their Kazekage.

"Launch the attack!" The commander yelled as massive arrows launched at Kazumu in high numbers.

"You can't hit me with those things." He had no trouble avoiding them as he flew towards Gaara. By now his shield had fallen and he was barely staying airborne His skin appeared to be cracked all over his body and he was finding it hard to breathe. Then his body wend limp as the rest of his sand fell off of him and he began to fall. "Ok I better grab him now. I've left Sasori waiting long enough." He used the Deva Path to fly at Gaara as fast as he could and grabbed him in his arms. "Well that's one down for me."Kazumu started flying off to Sasori and all the arrows stopped firing, "Heh, I knew they'd be too afraid to keep firing." Kazumu holding Gaara landed next to Sasori who didn't seem too happy. "How was the wait Sasori?"

"You're late. You could've been faster doing your job!" Something came out from Sasori's cloak and almost hit Kazumu.

"I'm sorry, but i did get him. I didn't think he would be that difficult." Kazumu weaved a hand sign and hit the ground. "Animal Path! Summoning Jutsu!" Just like last time a glyph appeared followed by a lot of white smoke, but this time an orange centipede came out. "I am not carrying him to the hideout. I'm worn out enough." He handed Gaara over and placed him between two of the centipede's legs. "The bird better recover soon, he'd be better suited for this." They began to walk off into the desert. "Did you take care of things here?"

"Of course, because unlike you I know what I'm doing." Sasori's tone started to get a bit uneasy.

"Ouch Sasori. That's a bit far don't you think?"

"It's just the truth. Now shut up!" He glared at Kazumu then he faced forward and began to walk off again.

'I wonder what happens after the beast is captured. Do they just take it out and send Gaara home? Or does the extraction kill him. Hmm, I don't think I could live that down. I feel terrible enough as it is killing all those guards. I don't think I could handle being responsible for someone dying that is so important to so many people. I should just stop thinking about it-'

"Kazumu!" Sasori was yelling at him the whole time.

"Oh, sorry Sasori" He bowed just like before. "What is it?"

"I wouldn't have thought it possible, but we're being followed."

"What?" Kazumu looked behind them.

"Hold it right there." Sure enough they had been followed. By a young shinobi wearing black with purple face paint outlining parts of his face. He also had three scrolls attached to his back. "We meet at last." He looked over to see Gaara being held by the summoned centipede. "Hand over Gaara now!"

"Not likely to happen kid." Sasori looked over at Kazumu.

"Kazumu, you go on ahead." He jumped in front of the enemy, making a large thud on the ground as he landed.

"Sound good to me." He dispelled the centipede "Animal Path! Summoning Justu!" And he re-summoned the bird from before, placing Gaara in its mouth. As he was doing this the Sand ninja took the scrolls of his back and placed them on the ground.

"Are you two ready, for a puppet show?" He said as he readied a hand sign. "Crow! Black Ant! Salamander!" As he said all three names the scrolls let out a white smoke and when it cleared the shinobi had and ensemble of three different puppets connected to threats of chakra coming from his fingers. "I'll say it again. Hand over Gaara now!" Kazumu saw the technique he was using and he knew that Sasori could beat him without breaking a sweat. He then jumped on the bird.

"Ok I'll go on ahead. You've got this covered." He said as he began to fly off.

"Think again!" The Sand ninja sent one of his puppets after Kazumu by moving his arm connected to the chakra threads, but the puppet was stopped by Sasori. He revealed the silver tail-like body part he had hidden under his cloak. It was wrapped around the puppet tightly.

"What!" The boy was stunned to see his puppet be intercepted like that.

"I don't like to wait." Sasori tipped his hear, letting his straw hat fall off his head. "Or keep others waiting." Sasori stared at him intensely. "So I'll make this short and sweet."

"You moved as fast as Crow. I'm impressed."

"The spider needs to be as fast as the fly."

"Hmm. Who is this kid?" Kazumu was a little in the dark with this.

"Well it was said that the Kazekage had siblings, and one could use puppets. So that would be him I'm guessing." Sasori stared at the boy. "Kankuro I believe." He was surprised to be found out so easily. He then disassembled the puppet ensnared by Sasori and reassembled it, getting it free from it's grip. Then he sent it straight for Kazumu again. Only to be stopped by Sasori yet again. "Forget about him. I'm your opponent." Sasori readied his tail-like weapon for another attack. "Kazumu. Quit gawking and get out of here. You're in the way!

"I'll make myself scarce then. Have fun with the puppets." He began to fly off with Gaara again.

"Where are you going!" Kankuro yelled but Sasori attacked him before he even had a chance to attack again.

"Didn't you hear me. I'm you opponent!" They stared each other down as Kazumu flew off with Gaara. Kazumu glanced back at the stand-off.

"How unlucky can that Kankuro kid get." He laughed to himself and continued to head towards the edge of the desert. He arrived and he put Gaara on the ground. He looked at him, thinking about what he was doing. _'Is this right for us to do? Why are we even taking the Tailed Beasts? I just don't understand all of this. Hmm. And Sasori talked about 'his' target on the way here. Who does he mean I wonder. Well there aren't many Jinchuriki that aren't already being pursued so he must be talking about-'_

"I'm getting sick of waiting for you Kazumu!" As usual in Kazumu's little world he failed to realize Sasori was there.

"Oh, sorry again Sasori." As usual a bow for an apology. "Did he take much effort?"

"Of course not. A bit of poison and he was dealt with." Sasori began walking. Kazumu put Gaara back in the bird's mouth and followed close behind him.

"Are you going to tell me what you meant by 'your target' Sasori?" Kazumu was determined to find out what he meant now.

"You'll find out soon enough. Now be quiet." Although Kazumu was shut off before he got a chance to question him further. "We're here." They had arrived at a cliff. Further down the cliff was a water current along with a red archway on the side of a rock wall.

"It's about time." They both jumped down with the bird close behind them, Kazumu performed a handsign that made the boulder between the archway raise up and reveal a cave, he then dispelled the bird and carried Gaara over his shoulder, realizing it wouldn't fit in the entrance It closed behind them and they were greeted by a rainbow coloured hologram.  
"You're late." The hologram faced the two of them and it turned out to be Pein.

"The Kazekage lived up to his name. He was harder to deal with than expected." Kazumu then dropped Gaara on the ground.

"Hmm. We must get ready at once." Pein then weaved multiple handsigns and place his hand on the ground. A big cloud of smoke appeared behind him and a statue emerged from the ground. It had 9 eyes and its hands were chained together. "Now let every one gather." He performed one more handsign and all the members of the Akatsuki Stood on a different finger of the statue as holograms. Kazumu and Sasori jumped up and joined them. "This will now take 3 days and nights."

"Lucky we had Kazumu to fill the gap after Orochimaru left." Kisame added.

"Lets just start the damn sealing!" Hidan was running his mouth again.

"Agreed." Pein, ignoring his tone agreed with his statement. One by one all the members raised their hands and performed a single handsign as the fingers they were standing on lit up. "Sealing Justu! Nine Phantom Dragons!" One by one dragons spewed out the statues mouth and all came together upon Gaara. As it started to painfully extract the One-tail from the Kazekage.

End for chapter 3.

Whew! That was a fair bit to get through. Although I'm still enjoying every second of it. Again if you have anything that I should change within the story I would love some input. I really want to improve my writing and if you have any ideas for a story that you would like me to write give me a message. if it's a reasonable idea I'll give it a shot. I'll probably aim to have most chapters this long. I want to get the most out of it. Oh and if there is any problems with Kazumu and Gaara's fight, please let me know. I wasn't sure if i could get the fight scene going right with all the Rinnegan abilities.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

_'Thoughts'_ will be done by Italic.

Hey again. I'm really trying to work my fingers to the bone to get more of this out because it's so enjoyable to write. So if you like it or have any suggestions for the story send me a message or give this a review. Cheers.

Chapter 4- The One Who Bursts In and Barks First

The extraction process had started as a red stream of chakra was seeping out of Gaara from his eyes and mouth, He sounded like is was in an intense amount of pain. _'I swear I can see the life being sucked right out of him'_ Kazumu watched this spectacle and realized he was a part of this horror._ 'I can't look at this! I can't bare to see someone go through this!'_ Kazumu's eyes were shut tight as he continued the extraction.

"Is there a problem Kazumu?" Pein saw through him quite easily. "You seem distracted. Focus is important in this justu."

"Uhh, yeah I'm fine." He was a really bad liar. He wasn't convincing anyone. "Will the-" Kazumu stopped talking mid-sentence,

"Yes?"

"Will the Jinchuriki survive this?" Everyone in the group was a bit suprised from the question, except for Itachi. He was the only one who understood how Kazumu was as a person. Pein paused for a moment.

"...No" Kazumu was silent. He then looked at Itachi. Whenever he was in trouble that would be who he would turn to for help. Itachi looked at him back as if to say 'It's alright, you didn't know.' Kazumu then shook it off and continued the jutsu. He knew that his feelings were second while his duties to the Akatsuki were first. "Are you fine to resume the sealing?" Kazumu realized he dropped his handsign.

"My apologies Pein. I was just getting carried away." He resumed his part of the jutsu and remained silent. Thinking about nothing but Gaara's fate and the fate that awaits all Jinchuriki if the Akatsuki gets them. Quite a lot of time passed running this through his head.

"Hey Kazumu!" He looked up to see that Kisame was trying to get his attention.

"Huh? What is it?" He was still in a daze.

"How did the Kazekage fight go anyway? Did Sasori bail you out?" Kisame never had too much faith in Kazumu's abilities.

"I specifically told the boy I would not assist him. He did it himself. Even if he did keep me waiting." Sasori sounded pretty angry saying that last part.

"I guess the kid is getting a lot better. What did you use to finish him?" Kisame seemed really interested for some reason. It was a little creepy.

"I stuck with the Paths of Pain throughout the fight so i just mixed it up." Kazumu then let out a nervous laugh. "I almost lost one of Pein's summons at one point."

"Well you're lucky you didn't." Pein sent a strong warning to Kazumu with that tone of voice.

"Yes, yes, very lucky!" Still nervous he had trouble speaking under these circumstances.

"Ok, enough talking. Get back to the task at hand." Pein silenced everyone.

"Our location has been discovered. The enemy approaches." Zestu had been doing reconnaissance whist taking part in the sealing.

"Which enemy is that?" A member that had blonde hair with a pony tail and a fringe that covered half his face began to step in.

"A very dangerous and skilled one. His name is Might Guy." It would seem Zetsu was well informed.

"Might Guy? Who is he?" Pein questioned.

"An elite Leaf Shinobi. A master of Taijutsu, Don't underestimate him." Itachi warned the group.

"Ahhh. That strange beast again." Kisame had already encountered Guy once before.

"They are of no concern. With our current numbers we will be done long before they arrive." Pein realized this isn't taking as long as he originally thought it would. "Focus on the sealing and this will be done soon." Time continued to pass as the sealing got closer and closer to completion.

_'Gaara is going to die like this, why do I feel so awful? Is this my fault? Sometimes I wish I was left in the middle of nowhere that night. Slowly dying. It feels like that's all I deserve right now. No. I have to shake this off. I can be a terrible person. I just have to try harder. I'm a member of this group and I will be here as long as Itachi is. That's probably all I need right now. Just a talk with Itachi to get my priorities straight.' _The red chakra being extracted from Gaara had stopped coming out of him and had accumulated as a mass of chakra inside the statues mouth. Then one of the statues empty eyes gained a pupil. There was now three eyes active.

"It is complete." Pein stated as the now dead body of Gaara fell and hit the ground.

"Finally." Sasori further proving he hates to wait.

"That was a lot quicker than expected. Three days turned into about two or so." After all the waiting Kazumu could finally stretch his arms.

"It seems to get more exhausting every time." Kisame started to rub his shoulder.

"Well done." Pein actually seemed to be glad it was over. "Good work everyone." He then glanced over at the remains of the Kazekage. Kazumu also looked down at him as well when out of nowhere whole cave shook from a collision from outside. "Hmm. It's getting noisy out there."

"Looks like we have some expected visitors." Kisame laughed to himself. "But it's a shame they arrived a little too late."

"It seems one of them is a Jinchuriki." Sasori said this with a high level of anticipation in his voice and started laughing. "Oh. Don't be jealous now Itachi." He didn't respond to Sasori's insult at all. Being ignored, Sasori laughed to himself again. Then everyone was silent.

"Well? Shouldn't we get this show on the road? We got company outside to deal with, and there is still the small matter of a mission we have to complete." The first one to open his mouth was Hidan naturally.

"Yes. Lets get going." The two sides of Zetsu then spoke up. "What about the intruders?"

"I wouldn't lose too much sleep over them. We don't even know if they can get in here." Kisame seemed to be pretty sure of himself.

"Don't underestimate them. You should know better, Kisame." The young Uchiha telling his partner off. Kisame let out a short laugh.

"Well they do have brute strength going for them I'll give them that."

"Sasori. Kazumu." They both turned to face Pein. "Take care of our new friends outside."

"Sounds like a plan." Kazumu released the Rinnegan to give him a bit of rest.

"But I want the Jinchuriki alive."

"Understood." Sasori confirmed Pein's order straight away.

"Everyone else is dismissed."

"Lets go!" Hidan still being impatient

"Right." His partner replied before he and Kakazu vanished. Everyone started leaving and only Pein, Itachi and Kisame's projection remained.

"I guess we'll be leaving to." Kisame seemed anxious to finally leave.

"Itachi. This Nine-tail Jinchuriki. What is he like?" Sasori knew that only Kisame and Itachi had seen the Nine-tails host before, but Itachi didn't respond to him.

"Go on tell him." Pein beckoned before he disappeared as well. Itachi stared at Sasori for a bit.

"He's the one who bursts in, and barks first." Sasori seemed confused with his answer.

"What do you mean?" Before Sasori got a reply, Itachi turned around to look at Kazumu and then vanished. Sasori growled.

"Well that's it then." Kisame said before vanishing as well. Pein returned suddenly afterwards.

"The rest is up to you two." He then weaved some hand signs. "I'll be waiting for your report." The statue disappeared along with Pein as Sasori and Kazumu landed on the ground next to Gaara.

"Why were you so quiet that whole time kid." Sasori turned to face Kazumu.

"Oh, I just wasn't really that awake i guess." Kazumu's mind was still wandering. He was shaken up from the extraction.

"Not another one of your ridiculous daydreams I hope."

"No not at all! I snapped out of those back at the Hidden Sand." He was still a really bad liar. Kazumu looked down at Gaara's lifeless body. "Did this happen to the other two as well?"

"Well of course. We needed the Tailed Beasts so we took them."

"I guess you're right." Kazumu couldn't stop staring at Gaara. _'I was stupid to think I was ready for all this. I can't handle it. I should have just stayed in the Hidden Rain with Nagato. Just forget all this mission stuff happened. As it is I got a terrible excuse for a team mate. Nothing like how Itachi treats me. I mean, all Sasori does is-'_

"I'm getting real sick of you Kazumu." As usual, Sasori was being completely ignored.

"I'm sorry." He didn't even bother bowing this time.

"I just wanted to let you know that the Leaf pests are getting though the barrier."

"Oh, then I should probably snap out of it then." Kazumu weaved a handsign and activated the Rinnegan.

"Good. You may actually survive now. Someday soon you're going to get stuck in one of those daydreams kid."

"They're not that bad!" Their petty argument was stopped as the boulder blocking the entrance cracked up and broke into pieces. As the boulder shattered, four ninja entered the hideout.

"So they finally arrived." Sasori said as he was staring down an old lady in the group.

"So which one of you is the Nine-Tails?" Kazumu looked at them all one by one.

"You..." There was a blonde haired leaf ninja with whisker-like scars on his face. He was furious at the sight of Gaara and his eyes turned red. "You bastards! I'll kill the both of you!"

"The one who bursts in and starts barking. That would be him then."

"Yeah no kidding. That's him for sure Sasori." Kazumu almost laughed at the accuracy of Itachi's description.

"Gaara!" The blonde-haired ninja continued. "What the hell are you doing!? Come on! Why are you just lying there!?" He was yelling at him like he expected the young Kazekage to wake up any second now. "Get up! Gaara!" It was pretty sad to watch. "Answer me! What are you deaf!? Come on! Knock it of alrea-"

"Enough Naruto!" He was cut off by his team mate. He was an older shinobi with spiked up grey hair and his headband covered his left eye. "You know full well that-" He didn't have the heart to finish his sentence.

"I'm sorry kid but Gaara's been dead since you knocked on the door." Kazumu had enough of seeing the boy called Naruto embarrass himself. He came out and said it as all four of the ninja looked shocked that he had been gone for that long, but one was a bit different. Naruto was getting angrier and he had murder in his eyes.

"Would you look at that." Sasori was trying to taunt the boy.

"Yeah, he acts like the Nine-tails at least." Kazumu added.

"Give him back!" Naruto was walking into it pretty easily. "GIVE GAARA BACK YOU DAMN-" He cut himself off and screamed while running towards Kazumu and Sasori, but the grey haired ninja stopped him.

"Calm down psycho." Kazumu got off the ground. "We just want the Nine-Tails." He got ready for a fight.

"Go away Kazumu. The Nine-tails is mine. We're supposed to get one a piece." Sasori wanted the fight to himself.

"We aren't splitting up. That would be stupid. Just shut up and act like a team mate for once." Kazumu's attitude had changed completely. "The way this Naruto kid cares for Gaara makes me think that he deserves to fight for him. Denying him that would be cruel." He was thinking about Gaara as well anyway. _'I wonder how this kid came to be this close with Gaara. I understand that he's important to those in the Hidden Sand, but why would another Jinchuriki care about his fate? Does he see him as a brother or something? I guess i can understand how he feels in a way, but-'_

"Kazumu you moron!" Sasori was yelling at him again for daydreaming. He looked up to see the Leaf ninja staring at him like he had a massive problem.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Kazumu bowed again.

"Sorry isn't good enough! You know I hate to be kept waiting!" This was the last straw for Sasori it seemed.

"Lets talk about this after we get the Nine-Tails at least."

"Hmm. You're lucky I'm anxious to start a fight with the Granny." Sasori said still staring at the old lady.

"Look. Have your fun with the fossil and I'll keep the Jinchuriki busy for you. I won't hurt him, much." Kazumu gave an intense stare at Naruto. _'I just wonder how far he will go to get Gaara's corpse off us.'_

"You really think you can take all of us in this cave?" The grey-haired ninja stepped in.

"Yes. Because I beat Gaara myself." Kazumu paused before weaving multiple handsigns. "And I didn't even use my strongest jutsu." The four ninja were surprised that this young boy defeated Gaara alone. "Wood Style! Wood Clone Jutsu!" Out of the ground, six wood formations sprouted and slowly formed into six perfect clones of Kazumu. "You will be the first to see me perform this jutsu." He then took a scroll out of his robe and unraveled it. With a single hand sign from Kazumu the center of the scroll let out white smoke and seven black rods came out. "I've been dying to try this out but Gaara's fight wasn't the right scene." One by one he stabbed the clones with the black rods. Sticking them in as far as he could while leaving a little bit showing at the end. Then used the last one to stab himself in the arm, pushing it as deep as he could while again showing a little bit.

"What the hell is this!" All the Leaf ninja had a look of horror on their faces.

"Are you ready?" All the clones opened their eyes to reveal the Rinnegan was showing on each one at one. "For the Six Paths of Pain!"

Well that took longer than I wanted it to. But at least it's done now. I'm am changing the fight here as you can see. It will be Kazumu and his Six Paths Versus Naruto and Kakashi. And the same fight with Sasori versus Chiyo and Sakura. Although they're are in the same cave to start the fight off so i guess it's Akatsuki versus all for a bit. I wanted to change the Deidara part especially because his little fight (if you could call it that) was really poor. As usual if you have suggestions for the story just review or send me a message.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

_'Thoughts'_ will be done by Italic.

I really hope everyone likes my spin on this next part, it was a bit to think about after all.

Chapter 5- The Six Paths and The Ultimate Puppet.

_'Why am I so excited to fight them? This is a new feeling for me. I think it has to do with the Nine-Tails boy. Naruto. How far will you go to get your friend back. I want to find out how much he cares. Hmm, I might even consider doing "that" if I see it.' _Kazumu together with his six clones and Sasori faced the four ninja. "It's time to do this. Prepare yourselves!" Kazumu signalled two of his clones to attack, _'Lets leave them something easy to start with so I know what I'm dealing with.' _

"Don't toy with me!" Naruto performed a handsign and a clone of himself appeared. He then gathered chakra in his hand as the clone helped shape it. When it was gathered it was a small ball swirling around, made of pure chakra. "I'll kill every last one of you!" He leapt for one of the clones as the other clone stepped in front of him, raising it's arms at Naruto. "Die!" When the jutsu got close a barrier stopped him. "What the-" The ball of chakra was fading away. It seemed that this clone had the abilities of the Preta path, absorbing the justu.

"Watch your left Nine-tails." The very next second another clone circled round.

"Naruto!" The clone was suddenly pierced right through with a massive lightning style jutsu coming from the grey haired ninja's hand. The Preta path clone then withdrew back to Kazumu.

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto realised he acted rash and charged in without thinking.

"Kakashi huh? I had a feeling you would be more trouble than you looked." Kazumu looked at the remains of the clone Kakashi disposed of. _'I can't believe I already lost one. Sure it's only the Human Path but he still could have been useful. Although I have no intention of killing them I guess.' _Kakashi raised his headband off his left eye to reveal that he also had the Sharingan.

"I'm going to have to actually fight serious against a small boy." He looked serious about the fight, probably because it was to protect Naruto.

"Well after that display of power I'm not going to hold back either." Kazumu smiled. _'Kakashi has the same look in his eyes that Naruto does, but it's not Gaara, it's Naruto. He must really care for him. Hmm-' _Kazumu was snapped out of his daydream by a loud smashing sound. Kazumu saw that Sasori had been punched by a pink haired girl, with the old lady standing a few feet away. It appeared that Sasori had been smashed to pieces by this single punch. _'Huh, looks like I'm not the only one losing ranks this early in the fight. He already lost Hiruko.' _A cloaked figure leapt out of the wreckage. "You in one piece there Sasori?"

"It would appear that I am." His voice had completely changed from this dark, deep, hostile voice to that of a teenager or maybe even a small boy. He slightly moved one of his hands and the head of the destroyed puppet flew into the air. He moved his hand once more and the head opened up at the crown and sprayed needles at the girl.

"Sakura! Watch out!" Kakashi yelled but she didn't get hit. The old lady swung her arms back and Sakura leapt backwards, avoiding all the needles. It almost looked like she was being dragged.

"Very clever granny." Sasori turned around. "Using the little girl as a puppet. I should have known, but i guess my teacher still has more to show me. Right Granny Chiyo?" Sasori removed the cloak covering his face to reveal his real face. "So do you still wish to fight me?" Chiyo's face was frozen, she was horrified.

"I don't understand. Your face is exactly the same. You haven't aged!" Chiyo stared at Sasori as she examined his face. He had short red hair, brown eyes and looked like a teenage boy. He was wearing his Akasuki robe in this form as well.

"What's the matter Granny Chiyo? Are you so filled with emotion that you can't speak?" Sasori was smiling right at her, it was creepy to say the least.

"Sasori!" He turned to face Kazumu. "If you're going to use 'him' let me know now and I'll get the other two outside." Sasori remained quiet and simply nodded. "So that's how it is." Kazumu turned to Naruto and Kakashi. "Follow me outside. We'll continue our fight there."

"And why should we do that?" Kakashi was first to object to the idea of separating the group.

"Ok. I'll give you some incentive then." He gestured one of his clones and the clone weaved multiple hand signs and hit the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!" This clone had the Animal path and it had summoned the same bird Kazumu used against Gaara. Kazumu picked up Gaara and placed him inside the bird's mouth, the bird then flew extremely fast out of the cave.

"If you want the Kazekage back you'll do as I say." Kazumu had a certain look in his eyes. He wasn't ready to end this fight it seemed. He was ready for more.

"Gaara!" Naruto was the first to charge out of the cave after the bird.

"Naruto wait!" Kakashi followed closely behind him.

"Well have fun Sasori. I'll be expecting you outside soon." Kazumu signalled all the clones and they scattered outside. "You better not die on me." Kazumu muttered under his breath before following his clones.

"Gaara!" Naruto was following the bird desperately with Kakashi. Kazumu and his clones were having trouble keeping up.

_'Ok, I should make that bird land somewhere.' _Kazumu ordered the bird to land over at a big grass field.

"I've got you now!" Naruto ran at the bird as he suddenly stopped on the spot. "What's happening!?" Kazumu's Deva Path clone had his hand raised at Naruto, using a gravitational jutsu to push him aside. Naruto went flying but Kakashi caught him.

"Don't get carried away Naruto." They turned to face Kazumu and his five remaining clones standing in their way of the bird. "You can have him back if I'm satisfied with our fight." The bird was dispelled and Gaara's body fell to the ground. Naruto shook Kakashi off him and stood up.

"How dare you."

"What? Speak up now."

"How dare you!" Naruto yelled at Kazumu. "Is this a game to you! Gaara has suffered his whole life!" Naruto sounded like his heart was tearing apart as he spoke. "He just became Kazekage. He finally had the respect and recognition he always deserved, but-" He began to cry. "If he never had that monster inside of him he would have never been part of this! He didn't ask for it. I didn't ask for it either. It was forced on us." Kazumu's hand was shaking. "For you to call us Jinchuriki. What gives you the right? Why should you deserve to label us!?" His tears were flowing down his face, landing on the grass. "I couldn't save Sasuke, and I can't save Gaara either. After all these years nothing has changed!"

_'Sasuke Uchiha. Itachi's brother.' _Kazumu recognised the name.

"Why are you even doing this!?" Naruto lifted his head up to face Kazumu, his face was red from the tears.

"Naruto." A tear left Kazumu's eye. "I want you to fight me." He made a hand sign and all his clones faded and he retracted the Rinnegan.

"What are you doing?" Naruto was finding it hard to speak after yelling so much, his voice was hoarse.

"I want to fight you without any help or assistance. If you win I'll-" Kazumu cut himself off.

"You'll what!"

"I'll give Gaara back to you." Kazumu was shaken up from Naruto's words. _'I took it too far, I just wanted to know how he felt, not any of this. I can't even look at him. I'm so ashamed.'_ Kazumu looked up to try and face Naruto but instead was greeted by a fist punching him directly in the face. He flew back from the impact and rolled along the ground, stopping near Gaara. "I guess I asked for that." Kazumu got up and brushed himself off.

"Just give back Gaara now!" Naruto was on the verge of crying again.

"Please don't Naruto..." Kazumu turned away.

"What do you mean!?"

"If you cry again I don't think I'm going to be able to stop myself from doing the same." All three of them were silent. "I don't know if you've noticed but I'm not like the other members of the Akatsuki. I don't have some grudge against the villages, I don't have any enemies, I didn't even come from any of the villages so I'm not a missing Nin." He looked straight at Naruto, you could see that he was trying to contain his emotions. "I never had a family or someone to lose. I didn't understand how it could feel so I wanted answers. I was curious to know, but then I saw Gaara die, I was a part of it to. I watched him die and it was all my fault!" He fell to his knees, trying desperately not to break into tears. "But even with this. I'm going to try something." Kazumu performed a single hand sign and something was summoned behind him.

"What is that!?" A huge head appeared from the ground behind Kazumu and he looked up to reveal his Rinnegan was active again.

"Watch out Naruto, he's up to something!" Kakashi yelled as Naruto took a few steps back.

"I'm not sure that I'm strong enough to perform this jutsu yet, but-" The head behind Kazumu opened it's mouth and he made one last handsign. "I have to try and undo the damage I've done." Kazumu was shaking on the spot. _'I don't know if I can do this, but I need to try. Pein told me it was too risky for me to even attempt when I left the Hidden Rain. He specifically said that we would work on it more once I got back. Hmm, well my friend, lets just hope that's the case.' _"Outer Path!" A wave of chakra expelled itself from Kazumu. "Gedo! Art of Rinne Rebirth!" The summoned head behind Kazumu opened it's mouth and a single bright green light came out of it. You could see that Kazumu was straining under the pressure of the jutsu as the light got closer to Gaara's body.

"What do you think you're doing to Gaara!" Naruto yelled and ran towards them, but he was stopped by Kakashi. "What's wrong with you, let me go past."

"I don't think he's trying to do anything bad to Gaara." Kakashi slowly said. He sounded unsure but he was trusting the feeling in his gut.

"Then what could he be doing!?" Naruto didn't get his answer because their conversation was drowned by the screams of pain coming from Kazumu.

"I've...almost...got ...it!" The light reached Gaara and it flowed into him through his chest. The winds died down, the summoned head disappeared and Kazumu was breathing heavily, barely standing. It was as if his body was too heavy for him to lift any more. "I..did-" Kazumu couldn't speak and he fell to the ground right next to Gaara, as the light was fading from his eyes he saw the young Kazekage's hand move slightly. _Welcome back...Gaara.'_

(Flashback almost a year ago)

"I'm finally training with Pein!" Kazumu was walking beside Itachi, excited for his Rinnegan training.

"Yes, well I was to have you until you could use the Rinnegan at will."

"Not that I know how to use it at all." He chuckled and smiled at Itachi. "Thank you by the way."

"Hm?" Itachi looked down at Kazumu.

"If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be this person. I'd be dead, lying on that path still, as a pile of bones." Kazumu took a much more serious tone. "I know you won't want to say anything back to this but I'm so happy I met you." Itachi stopped walking suddenly. "Itachi?"

"Thank you Kazumu." He was shocked to hear this from Itachi. "You remind me a lot of my brother, well what he used to be like. The time we spent training just felt like I was back at the Leaf Village with Sasuke." They got to the giant tower in the Hidden Rain. "So thank you of reminding me of a time better than this one." He walked off from there, leaving Kazumu surprised and touched. "See you, brother."

(Flashback end)

_'Brother.' _Kazumu could see a light in the distance. _'What is this? Where am I? What happened to me? Hmm, that light seems to be the only thing here. I should head there.' _He approached the light slowly and cautiously as it spread around him. _'Oh no, what's happening now'_ The light got brighter and brighter until he couldn't see any more.

"About time you woke up." Kazumu heard a voice but he couldn't see where it came from. "We were beginning to think you weren't going to make it."

"Who...are...you?" He could barely speak either, just managing to ask the voice his question.

"Me? Oh I'm no one important. I'm just a friend of Narutos."

"Naruto?" He started to remember what he had just done. He remembered him attempting the Rinne Rebirth. "So I failed then."

"Quite the opposite actually." Something inside Kazumu snapped and he opened his eyes. He was in a hospital bed, at a place he had never seen before. "You saved his life you know." He turned his head to find the source of the voice he heard earlier. It was a teenage boy with his hair in a ponytail and he wore a green vest. On his sleeve was an emblem Kazumu had seen somewhere before.

"Where am I?"

"I don't think I should say just yet. It might make you panic." Just as he said that another person entered the room.

"How is he holding up?" He heard a woman's voice this time.

"Lady Hokage?" The boy was surprised her entrance but not as surprised as Kazumu who knew what the Hokage was.

"Ahh! I'm in the Leaf Village!" Kazumu leapt out of bed and immediately collapsed on the ground with a huge thud. "Why am I here of all places!"

"Shikamaru, put him back in the bed." He sighed and picked Kazumu up and placed him back in bed. "Now don't get out again. You've been severely drained of chakra and you almost killed yourself." The Hokage was a woman who looked like she was in her mid twenties with blonde hair tied up in ponytails.

"Heh. Looks like I was lucky the jutsu worked." They were quiet for a moment.

"You're the talk of the village at the moment you know." Shikamaru broke the silence. "The Akatsuki member who brought back the Kazekage." He said it like they were news headlines or something like that.

"Well, as I told Naruto, I had to undo the damage I did." Kazumu had a solemn look in his eyes.

"That was noble of you but what are you going to do now." The Hokage was right to the point. It would seem having a member of the Akatsuki in the middle of the village like this is a bit of a risk, despite what Kazumu did. "Is this your way of switching sides? Did you realise you were doing the wron-"

"No." Kazumu cut her off and gave her an answer she didn't want to hear. "I did this for Gaara and Naruto. My loyalties remain with Itach.. I mean with the Akatsuki."

"Itachi Uchiha?" Shikamaru was quick to point out Kazumu's little slip of the tongue. "Why would you be loyal to him?"

"He saved me, made me a ninja and is a good friend to me." The two of them couldn't believe it. It's like he was talking about another person to them. "Oh, I forgot to ask." Kazumu quickly changed the subject. "What happened to Sasori?"

"He was dispatched by Sakura and Lady Chiyo." Kazumu's eyes widened when he heard what Shikamaru said. "So, he was all talk after all." Kazumu muttered to himself. "When can I leave?"

"It depends where you're going when you leave." The Hokage stared at Kazumu intensely.

"I already told you, I'm with the Akatsuki so that is where I will return to." Kazumu responded with no hesitance, but again this was not the answer the Hokage wanted to hear. She stormed out yelling something when she left the room.

"You've had a lot of visitors you know." Shikamaru said trying to ignore the Hokage's outburst. "You really made people think that you were going to change your life for the better." He laid down on the bed across the room from Kazumu's.

"What kind of people?" He sounded sceptical to the idea of anyone visiting him.

"Mainly other friends of Naruto, but some days it was just people from around the village that were grateful for what you did for the Kazekage."

"Hm, so what about you? Why are you here and how do you know the people who came in here so accurately?" Shikamaru paused for a moment.

"I've been here every day for the past week." Kazumu froze. "I promised Naruto that I would look after you until you recover. It's a real drag but I was interested to I guess." Shikamaru took something out of his pocket. "Naruto wrote this for you. I don't know how this will help you but I just hope you make the right choice." He left the room with Kazumu really confused.

_'Ok this is one messed up situation. I'm in the Leaf Village. Itachi's old home. I guess that would explain why I'd noticed the crest on Shikamaru's arm. Itachi has a headband with the same thing on it, except there's a line through the middle of it, hmm.' _Kazumu held Naruto's letter and decided to read it.

"To Kazumu.

I can't thank you enough for bringing Gaara back. I'm sorry I doubted your jutsu. I thought you were going to do something bad to him. Instead it revived him, almost at the cost of your life. If Sakura didn't come along afterwards you might not be reading this. I just want you to know that no matter what you choose to do from here.

Kazumu was shocked by the last line of the letter.

I will always consider you a friend of mine.

Naruto Uzumaki.

A tear left Kazumu's eye as he put the letter aside and decided to sleep for a while. _'A friend.'_

End of Chapter 5.

Hello again. sorry for the delay on this one. I had to clear the room out. Anyway I'm sorry to leave the last chapter to a cliffhanger like that and then have barely any fighting with the six paths. I just watched the episodes again and decided to take a different direction. I was really looking forward to Kazumu and Naruto's interaction at this point so I felt it should be this way. I revived Gaara with the Rinne Rebirth because I really wanted it to be like a situation where Kazumu wouldn't even think about Naruto as anything but the Nine-tails but Naruto is set on changing his views just like Sasuke in a way. Oh well, as usual if you have any suggestions leave me a message or a review.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

_'Thoughts'_ will be done by Italic.

Hi again. I will have him meet a lot of the main characters from the leaf but no pairings with them so don't ask. I am considering it for the future but it's a stretch. Although it is good to have a bit of romance in the mix. If you give me some good pairings (that make sense) i might consider it a bit more.

Chapter 6- Home.

_'Hmm, I feel like I got no sleep at all.'_ Kazumu woke up the next day still in the Leaf villages Hospital, not feeling any better than before. _'I don't think I could even activate the Rinnegan I'm so weak.' _Kazumu looked across the room to see Shikamaru sleeping in the bed next to him. _'I guess he's pretty intent on keeping his promise to Naruto.' _Kazumu faced the other way and tried to go back to sleep.

"...Hello?" This was a new voice. It sounded like a girl. "...Wake up"

"Quit whispering in my ear." Kazumu said still half asleep.

"How ungrateful! After me and Choji came here just to see you!" Kazumu turned to face his new visitors.. He was still really sleepy.

"Hi." Kazumu sounded half dead with that response.

"Not 'hi'! I'm still mad you." The girl who was whispering in Kazumu's ear was blonde with her hair in a ponytail. She had bright green eyes and she wore all purple with her stomach exposed.

"Heh. The nurses are sure looking pretty today." Kazumu was definitely out of it from his injuries but the now blushing girl had no idea.

"Uhh W..what did you say?" She was pretty surprised and her whole face went bright red.

"Snap out of it Ino. I told you to come to meet him, not date him." Shikamaru stepped in.

"He's the one who called me pretty!" As she said it she went back to blushing.

"He's clearly half-asleep and really unwell Ino." The other person was a guy who had long spiky brown hair and he was, well lets just say his appearance was robust to say the least.

"Who's this f-" Kazumu's mouth was closed shut by Ino and Shikamaru.

"That word is taboo around him." Shikamaru urgently whispered in his ear.

"Hey what was he saying?" He asked with a slight hint of anger in his voice.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all!" Shikamaru and Ino said together.

"Oh, that's good then!" He was pretty easy to fool.

"So who are you people and why are you waking me up." Ino's expression went sour.

"How rud-" Shikamaru nudged her out of the way.

"Be quiet, I didn't tell you guys to come so you could fight." Shikamaru sighed. "Ok, as you may already know I'm Shikamaru Nara. This here is Choji Akimichi. And the one who woke you up is Ino Yamanaka. They're my team mates."

"Hey! You made me sound bad!"

"Well you did wake him up." Shikamaru stopped there. "So what's your name?" Kazumu hesitated. Itachi once told him that because of all the villages not knowing he exists, he's at a clear advantage, but for once he didn't seem to care that much.

"I'm Kazumu." He said it bluntly, trying to make out a smile as he introduced himself.

"Just Kazumu?" Choji was wondering about the lack of a last name.

"Yes. I don't really have a family. Itachi and Kisame just found me." The three of them remained silent to the mention of those names. "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I'm used to saying their names without any real problem. I'm kinda forgetting what we Akatsuki do."

"But you aren't like them. You saved Gaara didn't you?" Ino asked. It sounded like she was looking for a ray of hope that he wouldn't go back to the Akatsuki after this.

"I guess so. The main reason I did what I did was-" He couldn't finish his sentence just thinking about what happened.

"I'm guessing it was Naruto?" Shikamaru got it right away. He couldn't hide it from him at all.

"How did you know that?" Kazumu was pretty surprised

"Because Naruto has gotten to us all one time or another."Choji said to the still dumbfounded Kazumu.

"He has that effect on everyone." Ino added.

"Hmm. Well it got me hook, line and sinker." Kazumu seemed down about it.

"Don't think about it too much, just work on getting better."Shikamaru said as the three of them headed for the door.

"Bye Kazumu!" Ino and Choji seemed so happy to meet him. Kazumu simply waved back to them.

"I'll be back later. Just try to go to sleep." Shikamaru closed the door behind them leaving Kazumu all by himself.

_'Does that Naruto really have that kind of effect on people?' _Kazumu went back to sleep thinking about this.

"..."

_'What is that sound.'_

"...I guess I'm just worried about him."

_'What?' _ He slightly opened his eye to see there was a girl sitting next to him.

"I'm still really grateful that you didn't fight Naruto and helped instead." She had such a pure, innocent voice.

_'Who is this girl? She sounds angelic. Huh that's weird of me to think. I must be getting soft.' _

"Although the only way I can thank you is like this. I couldn't say this straight to your face. I'm n..not strong enough socially. You almost gave up, your life for this. What could I even say?"

"Hello would be a good start." Kazumu replied to the girl, who didn't realize he had recovered enough to be conscious.

"You're awake!" Kazumu opened his eyes to see who she was but by the time he looked she was already gone.

"Ok 'that' was weird. I just want some sleep." Kazumu tried for the second time today to go to sleep.

*Nudge*

_'Oh god what now.'_

*Nudge nudge*

"Ok I'm up what is it!" Kazumu yelled and got up to see a girl with long blue hair and white eyes. She seemed to be shaking from Kazumu's outburst.

"I c..came to say-" She finished her sentence short.

"I'm sorry, I'm just really beaten up. What is it you wanted to say." The girl was a lot calmer after Kazumu's apology.

"I came to say sorry for waking you up and speaking to you while you were unconscious!" She was really quick saying this, like she was ripping off a band aid, trying to do it as quickly as possible.

"It's fine, I know its hard for you." The girl gasped. "It's not easy being socially awkward I bet. Hell 3 years ago I couldn't even speak yet." She chuckled a bit from this. "That's better."

"I'm Hinata Hyuga." She said still embarrassed. "What's your name?"

"I'm Kazumu." He seemed to enjoy meeting this girl.

"I...I'll see you around!" Hinata then ran out of the room.

"Ok, if I get another visitor like that I have a feeling I'll be up all night!" Kazumu then tried for the third time today to sleep. _'What is it with the people in this village? They're being so nice to me. Hmm, it doesn't feel right. No, that's not it. It's more like this is a new felling to me. Itachi's village. Hmm.'_

"Kazumu! Wake up!"

"Lady Tsunade we should really wait!"

"I'm sick of waiting. There's an Akatsuki member in our hospital and he needs to be dealt with." Kazumu slowly got up again and rubbed his eyes. He looked up to see the Hokage glaring at him. There was also another woman next to her along with several other ninja he hadn't seen before.

"I would complain but this is surprisingly the best I've felt all day." Kazumu didn't care too much about the presence of all these ninja with their stares all directed at him.

"There are two choices you have now Kazumu." The Hokage spoke up again. "Give us the answers we need or we will get them ourselves!" She was desperate for information on the Akatsuki.

"I have nothing to say, I've already told you my loyalties remain with the Akatsuki." All the ninja gave Kazumu a dirty look. "But I have a feeling that's not want you want to hear is it Tsunade?" Even with all those around him, he taunted her to her face.

"Well have it your way." Kazumu noticed a man who resembled Ino walk over to him.

_'I don't like the looks of this, I have to try and use the Rinnegan now!' _Kazumu took a handsign and all the ninja took a defensive stance. _'If i can just manage to-' _"Preta Path!" The Rinnegan was active and charka began seeping out of every ninja in the room, freezing them on the spot. _'Wow these guys are so powerful. I'm going to be completely recovered at this rate, i just have to be sure not to hurt anyone, the only reason I'm doing this is they won't let me go.' _Kazumu snapped out of it the second he was ready to escape. "Deva Path! Almighty Push!" He knocked all the Leaf ninja aside and blew of the wall in his room. Just before he jumped out the window he looked back at them all. "I'm sorry." He said under his breath as he bolted out. '_What is up with this place it's huge! I can't see any exit at all!' _Before he could realise it there was an alarm sounding throughout the whole village. _'Dammit, can't they just let me go already.' _Kazumu began to run around the village aimlessly wandering from place to place. _'I'm still stiff from lying in bed so long, I have a feeling even if I did know where the exit is I wouldn't reach it.' _Kazumu was suddenly grabbed from all sides and carried through the air. "Let me go! Just leave me alone!"

"Now that's a little ungrateful." He knew this voice. He turned his head to see Shikamaru, along with Choji and Ino. "We are going to get you to Naruto."

"Why? What can he do?" Kazumu looked to see the village entrance right in front of them.

"He told me if this happened to bring you to him. He's out on a mission right now so we have some time to get there."They landed at the entrance, putting Kazumu down.

"You mean you guys are going to take me to him yourselves?" They all had bags on their backs, ready for the journey.

"That's the idea. It's a real drag but I did make a promise." All three of them smiled at Kazumu. He was silent for a bit before finally saying.

"Thank you guys." He smiled at them and this wasn't a fake one this time. He was sincerely happy.

"Come on! We need to leave!" Choji was signalling everyone to follow.

"Ok lets head off to the Tenchi Bridge." Shikamaru confirmed the destination and all of them dashed of into the distance, leaving the Leaf Village as quickly as they could. "We need to be fast to evade the ANBU. They'll send them straight away if they suspect that you would go for Naruto." He was carefully thinking about their next move.

"You mean you're going against the wishes of your own village!? And the Hokage!? Just for a promise made by a friend!?" Kazumu couldn't believe his ears.

"Well our friends needs come before the rules." Choji joined the conversation. "We can't break our promise to Naruto just because of this."

"But I hurt so many people in that hospital. Sure I didn't kill them but i don't deserve such kindness if I can't return the favour!"

"Shut up Kazumu!" He was silenced by Ino. "We are getting you to Naruto and that's all there is to it. Even if we have to take you by force."She said this really calmly, it made it sound sincere and creepy.

"Tha-" Kazumu was cut off when several shuriken flew past the group, followed by explosions behind them.

"Paper bombs! We're being ambushed!" Shikamaru yelled as everyone stopped and took a defensive position. The group was all back to back and being approached by four rouge ninja from all sides.

"Don't move guys." Kazumu took charge and everyone went silent. He weaved a single handsign and closed his eyes. "I've got this!" He opened his eyes to reveal the Rinnegan's activation.

"What is that?" Shikamaru didn't know what to think of this. The rouges got closer and closer, but when they leapt for their attack.

"Asura Path!" Several mechanical hands suddenly sprouted from Kazumu's back and he grabbed all four ninja at once. "Human Path!" Using his remaining hand he reached into the ninja's chests one by one taking something out of them that was purple and see-through. After it had been fully removed they dropped to the ground.

"Kazumu, what did you do?" Ino asked hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.

"They're dead. I removed their souls." All three of them gasped and jumped back from Kazumu.

"How are you able to do that!?" Shikamaru stared at the purple ripples in his eyes.

"The Rinnegan. It's one of my ocular jutsu." He de-activated the Rinnegan. "As it stands I have three dojutsu but the Rinnegan is the most powerful."

"What are the others then!?" Shikamaru was determined to solve this mystery.

"Hmm. The Sharingan and Byakugan."

"What!? That's impossible! The Sharingan is an Uchiha bloodline trait and the Byakugan belongs to the Hyuga clan."

"I don't know what to tell you Shikamaru, but it is the truth. Now lets keep going. I don't want to talk about this any more." Kazumu turned away and started walking. The other three followed closely behind him. _'This isn't something I wanted to happen. I wanted my powers to be a secret but I guess that ship has sailed, and that attack. The memories I absorbed from them using the Human Path were out of place. Like they were tampered with so I couldn't read them. I would point the finger of blame to Pein but he doesn't think my loyalties have changed does he?'_

"Kazumu we're setting up camp. We won't get there today." Kazumu turned to face Shikamaru and noticed it was pretty dark.

'_Heh. Sasori was right I gotta quit the daydreams.' _"Yeah that's fine." Kazumu followed them to the camp site and they set up for the night. Afterwards they set up a fire and all sat around it together. It was silent at first. The day had been rough on all of them, also the shock of learning Kazumu's powers had the three Leaf ninja on edge. "Hey guys."

"Yeah?" Choji was the first to respond, while cooking some food on the fire.

"Are you...happy living in the Leaf Village?" Kazumu looked up to see a hopeful face on the three of them. _'Why did I ask them that! I'm just giving them the wrong idea.'_

"Of course we are!" Shikamaru stood up, and was joined by Choji and Ino soon after.

"We couldn't imagine living anywhere else." Ino said with a smile.

"It's the place we call home" All three of them smiled at Kazumu.

_'Home huh? I wonder where that would be for me. I guess I don't have one now, if you could even call the Hidden Rain home to begin with.' _Kazumu laid back and looked at the sky. "Sorry guys, today was a bit hard to deal with. I'm going to sleep it off."

"Ok then." Shikamaru threw him a sleeping bag. "We will wake you when we move out tomorrow."

"Thanks." Kazumu staring at the night sky slowly drifted off to sleep.

"..."

_'Is someone talking to me again? It feels more like a dream, or a memory? I'm not sure but it feels familiar.'_

"Looks like the..."

_'I can't make out the sentence. It feels like I'm underwater. My hearings muffled.' _

"...was a success!"

_'I'm missing the middle part of it. It makes no sense when it's incomplete like this.'_

"After all the failures this one worked!"

_'What? I don't understand. Who are you?'_

"You mean you don't know?"

_'Of course not! I've never met you!'_

"I'm hurt Kazumu. I really am."

_'It doesn't sound that way. Just let me go!'_

"You still don't get it do you?"

_'Get what? Tell me right now!'_

"I OWN YOU!"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Kazumu yelled out loud as he woke from his nightmare. _'A dream?'_

"Kazumu are you ok?" Surprisingly, even though he yelled loud enough to wake a whole village the only one who did was Ino.

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks for checking on me." She had her hand on his shoulder when she felt something wet.

"What's this?" She looked at her hand to see blood was smeared on it. "Kazumu you're bleeding!"

"What? How did that happen?" He suddenly felt the pain from it like it didn't happen until just now.

"Just turn around for me, I know medical ninjutsu." He did what she said and turned around. "Umm you need to take your cloak and shirt off so I can see the wound."

"Was this your plan all along Ino?" He said as a joke while he did what she said.

"Don't be stupid Kazumu!" She was blushing a little bit but Kazumu didn't notice. He took off his shirt to reveal the injury. He had a massive cut all down his back starting from his right shoulder all the way down near his left hip. "Oh my god! How did you do this to yourself!? There wasn't a single tear in your clothes. I don't understand." Her hands began to glow, coursing with chakra as she put her hands on the wound.

"I

don't know. This has never happened before." The cut was starting to close up thanks to Ino. "Thank you for this, but I really don't deserve it."

"You haven't done anything wrong towards me. Why would you think that?"

"Because, when I escaped from the hospital I attacked all the people inside." He paused for a bit. "And I'm pretty sure one of them was your father." She didn't respond to this for a while. Then Kazumu felt a fist hit his head, but very lightly.

"I forgive you." He couldn't believe it.

"How can you forgive me like that!?"

"Because with my father there they must have been trying to read your mind. I don't blame you for trying to escape that. I'm guessing you have a lot to hide?" Ino made it clear she was talking about the Akatsuki more than anything.

"Not really. I know the powers of Itachi and Pein and that's about it. They don't tell me a lot. They didn't even tell me the extraction of a Tailed-beast kills the host until the last second." He looked back at Ino, she had a very serious expression.

"Who is Pein?"

"The leader of the Akatsuki and my teacher for the last year. He has the Rinnegan like me." Kazumu said this without any hesitance. _'If Pein sent those rouges after me it's safe to assume I'm not welcome any more. Even so, I have to talk to Itachi. He's the only one I feel I need to talk to, well him and I guess talking to Naruto might clear things up for me.'_

"Thank you, don't worry you don't need to tell me any more. I just wanted to confirm something."

"And what would that be?"

"If you trusted me enough to tell me." Kazumu turned his head just enough to see Ino smiling. "There. The cut has been healed up. It might still hurt but it's completely fine." She got up and headed back to her sleeping bag.

"Thank you Ino." He turned to face her but she was already asleep. _'Great. Now I feel even worse. She probably tired herself out healing me. Hmm. I still don't know how I got that cut.' _Kazumu laid back down. _'I guess I'll just head back to sleep. I just hope I don't have another dream like that again.' _Thinking of this Kazumu fell asleep.

"...so wake up!" Kazumu was kicked out of his sleeping bag.

"Hey! What's going on!" Kazumu rubbed his eyes and looked up.

"We have to go now or we're going to miss Naruto." It was Shikamaru waking him up. Kazumu looked behind him to see the camsite was already packed up.

"Wow you guys are quick." Kazumu got up and brushed himself off.

"Lets just go already, waking up this early is such a drag." They all gathered their belongings and started walking down a path.

"Why are we walking? I thought we had to be quick or we'd miss him." Kazumu faced Shikamaru.

"Because Naruto was on a mission and he would-" Shikamaru stopped talking suddenly. Kazumu turned back around to see what made him stop and it was none other than Naruto, accompanied by Sakura, Kakashi and pale looking boy with short black hair. "Speak of the devil." Everyone stood there in silence. It was like no one knew what to say, or what could possibly be said.

"Hey there Kazumu." Naruto finally ended the long silence, smiling at Kazumu like he had been reunited with a friend he hadn't seen in a long time.

"How did you know my name? You wrote it in the letter yet I only told a few people at the Leaf Village what it was."

"Hehe. This is going to sound funny but I remembered it from when Sasori was yelling at you in the cave." He was grinning his face off, trying not to burst into laughter. "But enough about that. You being here means stuff at the village didn't go so well huh?"

"You could say that. It definitely wasn't pretty." Kazumu said as Naruto faced the other three.

"Thanks for bringing him here guys."

"It's alright Naruto. I did promise you I would." Shikamaru then turned away, dragging Choji and Ino along with him. "Come on they have stuff to talk about." As they left you could hear them yelling at each other.

"How's Gaara?" Kazumu asked Naruto.

"He's great thanks to you." Naruto's face was just so full of happiness. "You did a great thing. "

"Just because he saved the Kazekage doesn't mean he's going to help us." The pale skinned boy stepped in.

"Shut it Sai, you aren't a part of this!" Sakura yelled at him, pushing him aside. She was pretty scary like that.

"Sai was out of line just now, but I can't help but think of what you're going to do now Kazumu." Naruto's happy face was gone, he was a lot more serious now. He was probably hiding it behind a smile.

"I don't know Naruto. I said to Tsunade my loyalties haven't changed but now I'm unsure. I don't know where I belong anymore and it's driving me mad!" Kazumu fell to the ground on his hands and knees. "I've never had people around me who were so nice to me. Who accepted me. I just don't know how to react to it." He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Kazumu don't worry about it. You don't have to go through all of this alone. That's why I wanted to see you again. To tell you no matter what you decide to do, you have my support."

"Even if I went back to the Akatsuki? You would support my decision?" Kazumu looked up at him.

"If that's what you wanted to do, I wouldn't try to stop you. So what do you want to do?"

"I want to speak to Itachi." Naruto didn't respond for a bit, then he stood up.

"Then that's what we're going to do!" Kazumu got up as well.

"What!?"

"We are going back to the Leaf Village for supplies and then we are going to help you get to Itachi." Naruto said this in a way so you knew he was serious.

_'This is crazy! Why would he do this!?'_

End of Chapter 6.

Sorry for ending it in a weird spot but I have my reasons. Firstly, Naruto helping Kazumu means that this will be a replacement of the Sora story. I never liked it so it's actually nice to get rid of it like this. Next thing is I'm going to have Kazumu replace Sai in the next mission so the team size is the same. There is a few things I still need to go over but I'm working on them as fast as I can. If you have some ideas for me give me a heads up.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

_'Thoughts'_ will be done by Italic.

Chapter 7- A New Team.

"Ok, Are we all ready to go!"

"Shut up Naruto."

"Ouch Sakura, why do you always have to hit me?"

_'It's funny how normal this seems to be for them. The mission that was, reluctantly given to them by Lady Tsunade was to locate Itachi Uchiha. Even though it was only for my benefit. We said goodbye to a few of the people Naruto knew at the village. I got to say hi to Shikamaru and Ino again. They said Choji was at a barbecue joint or something like that. Also I saw Hinata looking at us from afar when we left the gate just now. I waved to her but she hid behind a fence'_

"Kazumu? Are you ready to leave now?" Naruto said as Kazumu looked up and saw that everyone was waiting for him.

"Sorry guys!" He bowed, somehow familiarly. "I get lost in thought a lot."

"So that's what happened back in the cave with Sasori." Sakura said like she was putting the pieces of a puzzle together. They started walking down the path together. The team consisted of Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and the Akatsuki member Kazumu. "Umm I wanted to ask you something Kazumu."

"What is it?"He was expecting a long drawn question from her.

"How are you able to use wood style jutsu? That's a technique only The First Hokage was able to do."

"I'm not really sure to tell you the truth. When I was training with Itachi, he used these pieces of paper to find out what chakra nature I had and when I held it a tree sprouted up from the paper, and then it burned down. He told me because of the mixture of two elements making wood style that I had water, earth and fire style along with wood style."

"That's amazing." Kakashi didn't believe it either.

"Well I guess you're one great ninja Kazumu!" Naruto yelled. "You will have to tell us more about your powers later."

"I have no problems with that. As long as you tell me yours Naruto." Kazumu was having fun talking with all of them. _'This is so weird. I just told them something and they were genuinely interested. I can definitely say I like them better than the other Akatsuki members, well except for Itachi of course.' _

"No problems at all!" Naruto was really excited and upbeat on this mission with Kazumu. He then he walked over beside Kazumu. "So you into any girls Kazumu?" He whispered in his ear.

"What!?" Kazumu's face went red. "Of course not! I don't even know any girls."

"Come on! You must've met someone in the Leaf Village right?" Naruto was just teasing him, trying to have a good time.

"Well there was this one girl who was pretty cute but I wouldn't go as far to say I liked her."

"Ahh! I knew it!" He was then punched really hard in the back of the head by Sakura. His body flew pretty far forward.

"Knock it off Naruto, quit bothering him." Sakura then turned and smiled at Kazumu. "Don't worry about him, he's just teasing."

"Yeah I know. I can take a joke." Kazumu laughed a bit after he said that. Remembering a 'joke' Deidara played on him one day. "I was used to a different kind of joke though. Mainly involving explosives." He laughed again.

"That doesn't sound very funny." Sakura said this with a somewhat worried face.

"Yeah I didn't think so either." They kept on walking and Kakashi approached Kazumu this time.

"So where are we actually heading?" He seemed to be unsettled being this close to Kazumu, who was still wearing his Akatsuki robes.

"Well there are a few spots that Itachi would be after a mission, so I made a route that gets us to these places first." He showed a map that he got from Tsunade.

"Well I guess that makes most of this mission straight forward then."

"Yeah just the way I like it. The mission I had with Gaara was-" He stopped talking, remembering the state he put him in.

"Kazumu." Kakashi had his hand on Kazumu's shoulder. "It's alright. You were just following orders." He said this making Kazumu feel so reassured.

"Thanks Kakashi." The conversation ended and they kept on walking. "Do we have an amount of time that this mission should take? Or can we take our time?"

"Well Lady Hokage would get pretty mad if we took too long, but we have enough time for it so we can walk." Kakashi gave the info pretty quickly. "Well here is our first village we have to go through." They started walking through it and people were giving dirty looks at them, and some people actually ran inside their houses.

"What's up with them?" Kazumu didn't understand at all.

"If I had to guess I would say it's you." Kazumu looked at himself, his Akatsuki robe was there in all it's splendour.

"Oh, right. I guess I need new clothes then." He turned to face the other three. "I don't have any money." He said nervously.

"We will front the bill, we cant have you looking so obvious. We will attract way too much attention." Kakashi stated, being very professional about it. "Just don't get anything too expensive." And Kakashi then dropped the professional look.

"Don't worry I wont ask for much, I just need a new cloak without the fear inciting logo of the Akatsuki." They went into the store, firstly scaring the owner before using an excuse that it was for a costume party, then went through what they had available. They came out of the store soon after. "That's much better." He now had a cloak somewhat styled the same way but this one had a hood and was a pale red colour on the outside and white on the inside, with one extra white stripe going down the cloak from the front.

"Yeah it looks good, no one will be scared of you now at least." Sakura looked at him and noticed something still on his left pinkie finger. "You aren't going to take off the ring?"

"Nah, I'm going to think of it as a memento." He smiled to them.

"So you aren't going back to the Akatsuki after all!" Naruto sounded really happy, Kazumu realising what he just said.

"Oops, I didn't say that." He tried avoiding it and they all started walking again.

"So do you like wearing cloaks then?" Sakura asked him.

"Well it's the thing I've been wearing for all my life, well all that I remember anyway." Kazumu then turned away trying not to talk about it further.

"We're staying at this hotel everyone, so in we go." Kakashi lead them all into the hotel. "This will be a great place to relax for tonight." He muttered under his breath. "Ok it's all paid for so off you go." Kakashi said realizing his wallet was getting a little thin.

"Ok Kazumu, we'll be sharing a room right?" Naruto leapt in front of him.

"Yeah sure if you want to Naruto." He said still proving that he isn't used to this. "But we should check out the hot spring first right?" Naruto just now noticed the entry to this hotel's hot springs.

"Oh, I didn't see that there." He chuckled.

"You idiot Naruto." Sakura was always the first to insult him. They split up with Sakura on one side and the boys on the other. They had the springs split by a wooden wall. Kazumu and Nauto got undressed and got in the hot springs.

"Wow this feels amazing. So warm." This was a first time thing for Kazumu.

"Yeah it really is a great way to relax." Surprisingly the only two in there were Kazumu and Naruto. Naruto began swimming over to the wooden wall laughing very subtlety.

"What are you up to Naruto. Sakura will kill you if you spy on her."

"Just one quick peek."

"I wouldn't risk it if I was you." Kazumu turned around to lay his arms out on the edge of the hot spring when Naruto noticed something on his lower back.

"Hey I didn't know you had a tattoo." Naruto looked at it. It said 'No.61' in black text.

"I didn't know either, I cant see it from here. What is it?"

"Just a number, nothing special. 61 is a bit of an odd number to just tattoo there."

"Well don't look at me I didn't put it there." Kazumu was a little shaken from this. _'What could that mean?'_

"Oh well, we better get out now, if we stay in too long we will pass out." They got back out and got themselves dressed back into their clothes and headed to their room.

"Uhh, hey guys." They turned to see Kakashi. "I don't have enough money for dinner so..." He then disappeared in a white puff of smoke.

"Hey! Kakashi sensei!" Naruto yelled but it was too late. "I guess we will just head to our rooms then." He said sounding really disappointed. They went up the stairs to their room and sat on their beds. "So what do you want to do, I can't sleep right now, I'm too pumped." He sounded like a child saying this.

*Knock knock knock* "Hey are you two still up?" The door opened and Sakura walked in. "Good it's really boring in there when you're all by yourself." She said as she sat at the end of Kazumu's bed.

"I guess this is a good time to show each other what we can do?" Kazumu said remembering their conversation from earlier. "I would go first but I have a lot to go through so you two go first." Predictably Naruto jumped up first.

"Well my specialities are the Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Rasengan. Oh and I can also summon the toads of Mount Myoboku." Naruto sounded a little proud of himself saying this.

"Rasengan?" Kazumu seemed a little confused.

"It was the technique Naruto used in the cave." Kazumu then remembered the blue ball that Naruto created from his chakra.

"Oh I get it now, and what about you Sakura?"

"Well I specialise in Medical Ninjutsu learnt from Lady Tsunade. I can also use my knowledge in this to gather my chakra in my hands to deliver earth shattering physical attacks." She also seemed pretty proud of herself.

"Wow Medical Ninjutsu, that requires an insane amount of chakra control." Kazumu got off the bed and stood in front of them. "I think I might do a demonstration to show my specialities." He readied a handsign. "First off with my Dojutsu." He activated the Sharingan. "Would be this one, the Sharingan, but I don't use it very often." He then retracted it. Looking to see the surprise in Naruto and Sakura's faces. "Next is the Byakugan." He then activated it, His eyes going white and veins bulging around them. "I don't really know how to use it at all except for it's massive range of vision so again it's not used very often." He retracted this one as well.

"How do you have those two? They're both bloodline traits of the Leaf Villages clans." Sakura couldn't believe her eyes.

"I've just always had them I guess. Anyway my last one is the Rinnegan." He activated it showing his purple eyes with the ripples emanating from his pupils. "With this I can harness the power of the Sage of the Six Paths and use the Six Paths of Pain. Which include a lot of different techniques." He then retracted his last Dojutsu. "Along with this I have techniques in fire style. water style, earth style and the very special wood style. Although my Taijutsu is a bit sloppy cause I rely on the Rinnegan too much, Itachi taught me everything he knew about it."

"That was an amazing display Kazumu." Sakura said as Kazumu sat back down in bed. "I've never seen so much potential in a shinobi before."

"It's nothing, I'm a bit of a useless ninja right now, nowhere to go but to Itachi to see where I belong." They could see he was pretty down about this.

"Why not come home with us?" Naruto jumped up. "You could have a normal life there as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village!"

"I'll admit I enjoyed my time spent there, well except for my run-in with Tsunade, but I'm not sure I could fit in there."

"Of course you would fit in! You're such a great person, almost giving up your life to do the right thing. I don't know many people who would do that." Naruto seemed happy just to be around Kazumu. "And you remind me of someone."

_'I could take a guess at who. It's just like Itachi said.' _Kazumu's face went completely serious. "Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your connection with Sasuke?" The two of them wouldn't speak for a bit.

"He was our old team mate, but he went to Orochimaru and became a Missing-nin to the Leaf." Naruto finally spoke up.

"Orochimaru? Wait he was in the Akatsuki wasn't he?" Kazumu remembered Kisame talking about it back at the sealing of the Shukaku.

"Yes, from the intel gathered at the Leaf he was at one stage but left for some reason that was never explained."

"Hmm, not even I know why he left, I don't even know who he is, but that name sends chills down my spine for some reason." Kazumu was slightly shaking.

*Knock knock* The door opened to show Kakashi this time. "Ok guys that enough talking for one night. Lights out ok?" He then closed the door.

"Aww what a let down." Naruto's face drooped.

"It's not like our topic of discussion was all that uplifting Naruto." Kazumu got into bed.

"Oh well, I'll see you guys tomorrow morning." Sakura smiled at them and left the room.

"Well that was interesting." Kazumu said in a sarcastic tone.

"Heh, it's funny you mentioning Sasuke like that. When I said you reminded me of someone he was who I meant." Naruto got into bed as well.

"Yeah I figured that. Itachi said the same thing to me about a year ago."

"Hmm, well I guess we will see how things are between you two when we find him."

"Yeah sure Naruto. Goodnight, I'm a bit worn out from today." Kazumu yawned.

"That's fine, goodnight." They both started to fall asleep.

_'Itachi, what happened to you in the Leaf Village.' _Kazumu thinking of this fell asleep.

"..."

_'Another dream? I just hope it isn't like the last one.'_

"Why's that Kazumu, don't you like seeing me?"

_'Well if a creepy guy came into your dream would you be happy?'_

"That's not a nice thing to call your owner."

_'You don't own me! No one does! I am my own person!'_

"Wrong again little boy. You just think you are."

_'Just leave me alone! I'm sick of hearing that voice of yours.'_

"Well that's too bad, because I'm never leaving. I'll always be here to remind you of your purpose."

_'My purpose? What do you mean?'_

"See you next time Kazumu. Hehehehehe."

_'No! Get back here! Tell me what you meant by that!'_

"Next time little boy."

"Get back here now!" Kazumu jumped awake just like last time, waking Naruto up next to him.

"Are you ok Kazumu?" He looked pretty worried and he noticed something dripping out of his eye. "Are you crying? Wait no that's blood!" Just like last time Kazumu had a cut on this but this time it was across his forehead, blood was flowing down his face. "Wait here I'll go get Sakura!" Naruto bolted out of the room.

_'Why does this keep happening? Is something wrong with me? And who the hell is that man? My purpose huh? I'm not going to let someone else tell me what my purpose is.' _

"I'm here, what happened." Sakura had entered the room followed by Naruto. "How did that happen!" She started healing it the same way Ino healed the cut on his back.

"If it wasn't for you and Ino I'd be in terrible shape right now."

"You mean this has happened before?" Sakura was starting to close the wound and Kazumu had stopped bleeding.

"Yeah on the way to see you guys with Shikamaru and the others. Ino healed me that time though."

"Well that should do it then." Sakura had already healed up the wound.

"That was quick, you must be better at this than Ino is." Just then a massive grin appeared across Sakura's face. _'Oh no what have I started.'_

"Well of course I am! I was trained by Lady Tsunade herself you know!" She was really proud of herself now.

"That's pretty impressive th-" Kazumu then passed out, only hearing bits and pieces of the other two talking.

"...too much blood!"

"Is he...be ok?"

"I hope so." After hearing the last part he fell asleep again.

"..."

_'Please no more dreams.'_

"...passed out last night."

_'Oh it's Sakura. Thank god.'_

"...try waking him up, we'll be late."

_'Looks like Kakashi's here too. I need to get up.' _Kazumu using every ounce of strength he had managed to get out of his sleep.

"Kazumu don't rush yourself. You lost a lot of blood last night." Sakura was holding him up.

"I'll be fine. I'd never let something like this stop me from finding Itachi." He got out of bed, struggling to stand.

"Don't be so reckless." Sakura put his arm over her shoulder. "You need help, you don't need to do it alone." Naruto did the same with his other arm.

"I said I would get you to Itachi and I never go back on my word!" Naruto smiled at Kazumu as they both helped him walk out of the hotel.

"Thank you so much guys." Kazumu was overjoyed from having their help.

"It's no problem at all Kazumu." Naruto said as both him and Sakura smiled at him. They began walking down the path out of the village and kept going.

"Our first stop is near here Kakashi." Kazumu said letting him know of their arrival.

"Ok, lets head in then." They had arrived at a run down temple like place. The Uchiha symbol was branded on the entrance. "This is it guys, be ready for anything." With this last warning from Kakashi they tried to head inside

"Don't bother Kakashi, only Akatsuki members are given the seals for these hideouts." Kazumu got out of Naruto's and Sakura's arms and performed a few handsigns and the door revealed a seal tag that then burned away. "That should do it." Kazumu started falling again and was caught by Naruto and Sakura.

"Don't worry, we've got you." Naruto said as they walked him inside.

"Thank you again." The went inside to see the inside was run down just like the outside. "And now we wait."

"What are we waiting for though?" Kakashi asked.

"Itachi creates clones that activate upon entry to these places. It's one of his main jobs to get information to the other members."

"That would be correct." They all turned to see Itachi standing behind them. "It's good to see you again Kazumu. Even if it's not the real me."

"My thoughts exactly." Kazumu looked like he was about to cry of joy from seeing his friend again. "I needed to talk to you again."

"So I've heard. Pein thinks that you switched sides you know."

"Yeah I know, I received a warning from him through a few rouge ninja he sent my way."

"Actually I was the one who sent them. It was the only way I could get the message out to you without Pein finding out."

"Well it worked I guess, but a warning would have been nice."

"But you didn't need the warning." They both then smiled, remembering the same conversation coming up in their training. "I need to talk to you alone Kazumu."

"I had a feeling you would say that." Kazumu got out of Naruto and Sakura's arms again. "I should be ok walking for a little bit by myself. Just wait for me outside please?" They all nodded and left the temple. "So what is it you need to talk to me about?"

"You have been to the Leaf Village correct?"

"Yes, I has there after I almost killed myself using the Rinne Rebirth on the One-tail Jinchuriki."

"Hmm, that sounds just like you Kazumu." Itachi smiled again. "I haven't been this happy in a long time."

"Same here. I needed to see you to ask what I should do now. Do I return to the Akatsuki and beg for Pein's forgiveness? Do I stay at your side? Do I stay with the Leaf Village? I just don't know what to do, and I knew if I talked to you I would have my answer." Itachi stayed silent for a moment.

"Did I ever tell you why I left the Leaf Kazumu?" His face was suddenly filled with sadness.

"No Itachi, you just said it was to protect your brother."

"Well that's true, but the cost was great."

"What do you mean?

"Well back when I was a child and my brother was a baby. There was an event that was the darkest hour of the Leaf Village. The Nine-tailed Fox had attacked the Leaf village. It was eventually stopped by The Forth Hokage and sealed within Naruto."

"The same one that attacked the village? Really?" Itachi nodded and continiued his story.

"But this event was far from forgotten. They found out that it was most likely an Uchiha that made the Nine-tails attack that day. So the council for a long time had planned to eradicate the entire clan to avoid this dilemma from happening again. So in the end I was given a choice. To stand by my clan and be wiped out with them."

"Or?"

"Kill my entire clan myself to save the life of my brother Sasuke." Kazumu's eyes widened.

"How could they make you do that!"

"It's just how it was, there was no other choices. The clan was trapped in a corner and the order was given."

"Does anyone else know this?"

"Besides the high ranking officials that ordered it and me, no, and that is how it has to be."

"Why is that."

"The Uchiha clan must be redeemed by Sasuke." He talked no further into that topic. "Kazumu?"

"Yes?"

"I have a request for you."

"What is it. I'll do it no matter what it is!"

"Protect the Leaf Village for me." Kazumu was shocked by this.

"Why would you want that after what they put you through!?"

"Just promise me Kazumu."

"...ok Itachi. I'll do it." Kazumu seemed to regret saying this. "So I guess this means you want me to return to the Leaf?"

"Yes. Please try and live the life I can no longer live."

"I will Itachi." Itachi started to walk towards him. " What are you-" He was cut off when Itachi hugged him.

"Just promise me one last thing?"

"Yes?"

"When that day comes, don't do anything to stop it." Kazumu felt a tear hit his shoulder,

"What do you-" Suddenly Itachi began to turn into a group of crows and faded away. "Goodbye brother."

End of Chapter 7.

Well I came to my decision as you can see. Kazumu will become a part of team Kakashi as a replacement for Sasuke or Sai if you want to be technical. Are any of you beginnig to piece together Kazumu's origin? Well it will be revealed near the end unless you can figure it out before then. If you want to know what Kazumu's new outfit is like look at Edo Itachi or Edo Nagato's clothing. It's exactly like that. Again if you have any suggestions for the story give me a message or review.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

_'Thoughts'_ will be done by Italic.

Chapter 8- My New Life.

"So what was he result of the mission?"

"Well Lady Tsunade it-"

"I'll handle this Kakashi." Kazumu stepped forward to explain the situation to the Hokage. He breathed in and began to talk. "Lady Hokage, I have spoken to Itachi. He informed me I am no longer a member of the Akatsuki, he then attacked me." Kazumu and the others had created a false story to make sure the Leaf Village would know that Kazumu's ties with the Akatsuki had been completely cut.

"Go on." Tsunade was anxious to hear the rest of the report.

"As it stands I know you might not want a former Akatsuki member around the Leaf, but even so." Tsunade raised her eyebrow. "I wish to become a resident of the Leaf Village! I'll do anything! Please!" Tsunade got out of her seat and walked over to Kazumu then turned to look at the others behind him.

"What do you make of this Kakashi?"

"He's serious Lady Tsunade." She heard this and turned back to Kazumu, who was still bowing. She placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Welcome to the Leaf Village Kazumu." She smiled at him while Naruto was screaming in celebration, then suddenly Tsunade's grip tightened on his shoulder. "One more thing." She looked at him with a demonic stare. "Don't ever do what you did in that hospital again." This was said very slowly, it was terrifying.

"Of course Lady Tsunade." Kazumu struggled to say this because he was still very weak from the night before, not that Tsunade knew or anything. She then let go and sat back down.

"There is a few thing we will need to go through before we can let you relax here, I know it's a trial but I need all your information on the Akatsuki."

"That's easy, besides they're names, their general means of attack and the number of tailed-beasts they currently have I don't know anything."

"And he has already relayed that information to me Lady Tsunade so I will take care of that." Kakashi stepped forward.

"Well it looks like that's already been taken care of then. What do you suppose is the first step in his new settlement here Kakashi?"

"I think you already know that." Tsunade smiled and went into her desk and grabbed something from it.

"Here Kazumu." She gave it to Kazumu to reveal it was a headband with a metal plate on it. It was engraved with the Leaf Village symbol. "This officially makes you a shinobi of the Leaf."

"Thank you." He was at a loss for words. _'For them to accept me like this, this easily. It's unreal! I was a member of the Akatsuki a short while ago but they don't seem to care. In a way I'm glad, I can carry out the promise I made to Itachi. Hmm, maybe now I understand why Shikamaru was so set on keeping his promise to Naruto. If it felt like this then I completely understand, but that other promise I made, what did he mean by that.'_

"Kazumu?" Naruto was tapping him on the shoulder.

"Damn it! I'm sorry!" Kazumu bowed once again. " I have to quit getting lost in thought like that."

"It's fine! Although you did miss some big news." Naruto couldn't stop smiling.

"What news?" Kazumu was still dazed from the daydream.

"Starting from today you are an official member of Team Kakashi!" Naruto jumped around the room, he was pretty happy.

"Wow, really? That's great!" Kazumu seemed just as happy as Naruto, looking down at the headband in his hand and smiling.

"Although you won't be on missions with us for a while. We need to get you up to the right status in this village." Kakashi stated.

"Yeah you don't want to be like Naruto, staying a Genin forever do you?" Sakura was as always the first to pick on poor Naruto.

"Give me a break Sakura." Naruto pouted.

"Also you'll be beginning training while waiting for the Chunin exams to start again." Kakashi said. "But it won't be with us. You'll be training with a group that's better suited to your needs."

"My needs?" Kazumu wasn't aware he needed anything.

"Well you told Naruto that you didn't have a clue how to use the Byakugan and you said your Taijutsu was sloppy correct?" Kazumu didn't like where Kakashi was going with this.

"There's really a team that can help me in both areas at once?"

"Indeed there is, Team Guy." Kakashi sounded like he was giving bad news not good.

"Team Guy huh? Well I look forward to meeting them." Kazumu said, Ignoring Kakashi's tone of voice.

"Well you'll be meeting them tomorrow, until then we need to sort out your living arrangements." Kakashi sounded a bit worried when he said this.

"You mean that wasn't sorted out by Tsunade?"

"Nope. You might just have to ask around the Leaf with Naruto to find someone who will let you stay with them for a while. Just until we get you a room like Naruto, but I have stuff to organise for the new team so..." Kakashi then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Does he always do that?" Kazumu was a little mad at him for ditching again.

"Yeah, he never seems to be around when you need him." Naruto said, sounding just as mad. "Sakura are you going to help us?"

"I better just in case Kazumu still feels too weak to walk." She had a high level of worry in her voice.

"I'll be fine now, I've just never had an injury like that before, but if you want to come anyway that would be nice."

"I guess it's settled then, lets go find you a temporary home." Naruto said as he started walking out of the room, Kazumu and Sakura slowly following close behind.

"I guess you two are out of the question or you would've already offered right?" Kazumu asked the two of them.

"Yeah my place is way too small for two people."

"And my parents would kill me if I asked for a boy to live at ours for even a night." Sakura wasn't joking at all when she said this.

"That's alright then, just making sure." Kazumu was moving really slowly, his injury was still having a pretty bad effect on him.

"Are you sure you're ok? You don't seem to be standing very well." Kazumu then started to fall over, Sakura catching him before he hit the ground. "I knew you were too weakened or this." She sat him down. "Naruto you go on ahead, I'm going to make sure he's ok." Naruto nodded and ran off, disappearing around a corner. "The wound isn't actually there anymore, you just need rest."

"Yeah I figured as much." Kazumu was panting, he seemed out of breath just from walking that short distance. "But there is no way I'm going to the hospital at the moment."

"Yeah, I heard you left it in a pretty bad state." Sakura giggled.

"It wasn't really that funny."

"Well you seemed down so I was just trying to cheer you up."

"Thanks I guess." They remained silent for a while. It was definitely awkward between them.

"Hey guys I found the perfect place for Kazumu to stay!" Naruto saved them from the moment. He was dragging someone along with him as well.

"Naruto, I said he might be able to stay and you pulling me along like this is going a bit far!" Whoever he got wasn't happy with Naruto.

"Kazumu. Meet your Byakugan teacher Neji!" Neji had long brown hair tied in a low pony-tail, a loose fitting but somehow traditional looking white shirt and somewhat familiar white eyes.

"I'm Neji Hyuga." He bowed respectfully. "As Naruto pointed out I'm your teacher for the use of the Byakugan."

"Hyuga? And white eyes? So you're related to Hinata then?" Kazumu pieced it together.

"You know Lady Hinata? Well that's good, you will be living on the same estate after all."

_'Lady Hinata huh?'_ "Well at least I know my team for training is going to be normal enough." Kazumu smiled.

"Prepare to be disappointed." Neji sighed. "Anyway enough about that. If you want I can take you to where you will be staying for the time being?"

"Are you two alright carrying me again? I doubt I can walk still." Kazumu frowned.

"Of course Kazumu!" Naruto picked him off the seat and put his arm over his shoulder. Sakura then did the same with his arm.

"It's no trouble, really."

"Thank you guys." Everyone stayed silent on the way. _'So the Hyuga clan are the holders of the Byakugan then, I guess that explains a few things but that doesn't explain why I have it. Well as far as I can tell it's not stolen, or else I wouldn't have my other Dojustu and I'd have white eyes like Hinata and Neji. So if it's mine then-'_

"Ok Kazumu we're here." Naruto snapping him out of his delirium once again.

"Sorry." He laughed nervously. They entered the estate to see that Hinata and an older man were waiting for them.

"Welcome to the home of the Hyuga Clan." The man stepped forward and bowed with his greeting. "I am Hiashi Hyuga, I am the head of the clan."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kazumu."

"So I've heard. Even though Neji will handle most of your training, Myself and Lady Hinata will also assist on days when Neji isn't available." Hinata was hiding behind Hiashi at this point. "Anyway your living arrangements will be taken care of here and you will be staying in the same room as Neji."

"Oh, that's fine I guess." Kazumu was expecting his own room it seems.

"We mean no disrespect, it's just this clan has customs and they must be followed. As it stands we are often targeted by surrounding villages because of the Kekkei Genkai we all possess." Hiashi then bowed by way of an apology.

"That's fine, I understand." Kazumu got out of Naruto and Sakura's arms. "I should be fine from here guys. I'll see you around."

"Sure thing! We will come up when you're better so we can give you a tour of the village." Naruto said as he waved goodbye.

"We'll see you soon Kazumu!" Sakura yelled from the distance as they walked away. Once they left Hinata came out from behind Hiashi.

"Come inside Kazumu, you seem like you need the rest." Hiashi lead him inside. The place was pretty big, looking very traditional like everyone in the clan. Him and Hinata showed Kazumu to his room and Neji helped him lay down.

"Just try and rest now. We will begin your training once you are better." Neji then left the room with Kazumu in bed.

_'I guess this is where I'll be staying for now. It seems pretty nice here. At least I already know Hinata so I'm not completely in the dark. I'll get used to it in time I hope. All I can think about right now is what Team Guy is going to be like. Taijutsu-based training will be a bit of a trial for me I think. Oh well, I'll be pretty keen for revising the Taijutsu Itachi taught me. He is insanely powerful with it after all.' _While Kazumu was thinking of all this he fell asleep.

"..."

_'Please not another one of these right now.'_

"Another one of what?" Kazumu looked up to see he was in a weird looking world where everything was somehow inverted. Also to find the source of the voice was none other than Itachi.

"What!? Itachi! Where are we?" Kazumu was cautious but he couldn't help being happy.

"I've got you in my Tsukuyomi. I needed to tell you something."

"What is it? If it's about my promise don't worry. I'm living in the Hidden Leaf now."

"No that's not it. I'm just letting you know that because of you defecting from the Akatsuki you've made Pein nervous. He's delaying the actions of the Akatsuki for now."

"What? I made that much of an impact."

"Well the only thing he fears is his own power, and you learnt almost everything off him."

"Yeah, almost. I wish he taught me the Rinne Rebirth before I left. I could use that again someday."

"That's another thing. Please don't use that anymore. You got lucky the first time but next time you might not be so lucky."

"...ok Itachi. I will restrict myself use of the Rinne Rebirth."

"Good. Now it's about time I left."

"Itachi!?"

"..."

"What did you mean by 'don't do anything to stop it'?"

"..."

"You aren't planning on doing anything rash are you?"

"...just trust me Kazumu." After saying this the world started to deteriorate right before Kazumu and he suddenly woke up. He was breathing heavily and was sweating.

"Even though he wasn't using it in an offensive manner it was still terrifying." The door to the room then opened and Hinata stepped in with a tray of food.

"Umm..." She still wasn't very comfortable talking to Kazumu after their last encounter.

"Did you bring that it for me." Hinata nodded. "Wait, did you make this for me?" She nodded again.

"It's just-" She breathed in. "You missed dinner so I made some for you." She laid the tray next to Kazumu. "I hope you like it!" She then bolted out of the room.

_'Poor girl she's probably still embarrassed from out meeting at the hospital.' _Kazumu put the tray on his lap and started eating the food. _'Wow this is amazing! I've never had food like this before.' _He quickly finished it off and put the tray back next to his bed. _'I'll have to thank her later for that.' _Kazumu then fell back asleep.

For once Kazumu had a night of undisturbed sleep and woke up the next morning completely refreshed. "Wow. I don't know what Hinata put in that food but I feel great!" He got out of bed and jumped around a bit to test his strength. "I'm almost back at one hundred percent. This is incredible!" Kazumu walked out of the room and ran into Neji.

"Morning Kazumu, did you sleep well here?" He looked like he had been up for hours.

"Yeah, it was the best night of sleep I've had in a long time." Kazumu stretched out from his long rest. "I feel good enough to go on that tour with Naruto and Sakura today." Neji smiled. He seemed relieved to hear this.

"That's great, I'll organize for all of us to meet up a little later today. Then afterward I'll introduce you to the team you'll be training under." Neji walked down the hallway with Kazumu. "Just be prepared to deal with Guy-sensei."

"Is he strict?" Kazumu sounded a bit worried.

"More, intense than strict. Guy is a freak of nature when it comes to the amount of training he can endure." Neji sighed. " But he helped me get to this stage so I can't complain too much." They walked into the next room and Hinata and Hiashi were sitting down at a table having tea. Also with them was a younger girl with long brown hair and the usual Hyuga's white eyes.

"Ahh, good morning Kazumu." Hiashi stood up. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better thank you." Kazumu bowed to him, he thought since they did it a lot he'd give it a try.

"That's good to hear. This here is my younger daughter Hanabi."

"Nice to meet you." She nodded in agreement.

"Lord Hiashi, we'll be out today showing Kazumu around and introducing him to my team, he'll be training with us until the next Chunin Exam." Kazumu was surprised to hear Neji call him Lord.

"Yes I'm aware Neji, thank you." He then left the room.

"Well we should get going Kazumu. We have a lot to do today." They started heading out the door as Kazumu suddenly stopped and turned back around.

"Oh and thank you for dinner last night Hinata, it was amazing." He smiled at her and her face went red. "See you later!" Kazumu got ready and headed out with Neji to find Naruto and Sakura. "Why do you call Hiashi 'Lord' Neji?"

"I'll explain it later." From the sounds of Neji's response, he was just avoiding it.

"Kazumu!" Naruto came charging in from out of nowhere. "You must be feeling much better now that you're out and about."

"Yeah I was looking forward to getting that tour from you and Sakura today if that's ok?" Naruto's face went sour.

"I'm sorry Kazumu, but Lady Tsunade wants me and Sakura to give her a personal report for our mission, and then she wants us to be checked in at the hospital to make sure we're ok."

"Don't worry Naruto that's alright. I'll just meet Team Guy for today. We'll do it another time right?"

"Definitely!" Naruto smiled at Kazumu. "I gotta go, I escaped Sakura to go grab some ramen so she's gonna kill me!" Naruto then jumped over a few of the buildings making a quick retreat.

"Ok then, with that out of the way, lets go meet the others at the training field." Neji gestured Kazumu to follow him as they headed for the usual training spot for Team Guy. Just before they got there Neji stopped Kazumu. "Just watch out for Guy. I don't know what he'll be like around you."

"I'll be fine, don't worry Neji." Neji then had a look in his eyes saying 'don't say I didn't tell you so'. Kazumu approached the training area and he started to see people over there in the distance. He could barely hear anything coming from them but as he got closer he started to hear a voice.

"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety five, nine thousand nine hundred and ninety six, nine thousand nine hundred and ninety seven." Kazumu looked to see it was two guys in matching green jumpsuits and orange striped leg warmers. They both also wore the same jacket as Shikamaru. They were doing one finger push-ups with their bodies in the air!

_'This is crazy! These two can't have done that many!" _Kazumu couldn't believe his eyes or ears.

"Ten thousand!" The older ninja then flipped off his finger and landed perfectly. The other then tried to do the same but fell over onto his back. "Lee!"

"Yes Guy-sensei!" Up close even their hair styles and eyebrows which were really thick looked exactly the same.

"You have to try harder to do something as dazzling as that after doing so many push-ups!"

"Yes of course Guy-sensei! I will try harder next time!" Kazumu couldn't help but stare at the two of them.

_'I can now see why Neji warned me, this is completely insane!' _

"Well Lee, as punishment you must-" Guy stopped when he saw Kazumu and Neji. He slowly walked over to him.

"Neji, is this him?" He looked ridiculous, but it's hard to ignore the feat of strength he just endured.

"Yes Guy-sensei. This is Kazumu." He remained silent for a bit.

"Lee!" The one on the ground sprang up and stood next to Guy doing a salute.

"Yes Guy-sensei!" He had unwavering dedication to that salute.

"Introduce yourself." Guy then stepped away and Lee approached Kazumu.

"I am Rock Lee! I am a ninja with no talents for Ninjutsu or Genjustu so I focus solely on Taijutsu!" He was still doing the same salute.

"Hi... I'm Kazumu." He was a bit overwhelmed from his introduction. _'He can't be serious right? Only having Taijutsu at your disposal, you could never be a powerful ninja with a crutch like that.'_

"Now Lee!" Guy yelled out as suddenly Rock Lee's eyes focused in and he sprinted up to Kazumu, swinging a kick at his midsection.

_'Too fast! I need to use the Rinnegan or I'm toast!' _Kazumu just had enough time for the Rinnegan to activate. "Deva Path! Almighty Push!" The kick was millimetres from connecting when Lee was sent flying back by Kazumu. "That was way too close."

"Kazumu!" He looked over to see Guy called him. "No eye jutsu!" Kazumu's face filled with horror at the thought of taking Rock Lee on without Dojutsu. He then regretfully retracted the Rinnegan and faced Lee, taking the stance Itachi taught him.

"Here I come!" Rock Lee came at him again as his kick was this time returned by Kazumu. "Amazing. I was told you weren't up to par with Taijutsu. You managed to meet my kick with equal strength."

"Tell that to my leg, it feels like it was hit by a house!" Kazumu then shook Lee off. _'What is happening here! That kick was filled with inhuman power! I can't last long against this with just Taijutsu. He's way too powerful!' _Before Kazumu could think about it anymore, Lee was back for more. "Not again." They both started trading blows. Kazumu taking more than he was giving, getting hit with massive amounts of force each hit. _'This pain is unreal. I can't go through much more of this.'_

"Enough Lee!" Right before Kazumu's eyes Lee vanished. He then turned to see that Rock Lee was standing right beside Guy.

_'What the... How did he do that? If he can only use Taijutsu then... No, that's impossible! There is no way he just did that from pure physical speed alone!' _You could see the amount of pain and shock on Kazumu's face from what just happened. He then fell back, sitting on the ground.

"You might not want to believe this Kazumu." Guy walked up to him. "But that was done with nothing but Taijutsu and physical strength."

"What!?" Kazumu was breathing heavily from pain. _'I feel like such a fool! Sure with my Rinnegan it would have been a decent fight but now that I think about it, it feels like I'm cheating, doing something that he's incapable of doing. If we fight on equal ground I'm a terrible excuse for a ninja compared to him.'_

"Kazumu!" He looked up to Guy. "This is why you'll be training with us. Along with Neji to improve your chakra control and learn the Hyuga's Taijutsu style, the Gentle Fist. You'll be more than ready to face anything that comes your way at the Chunin exams." Kazumu shook himself off and got up off the ground.

"Lee?" Kazumu got his attention and he walked over. "I'm sorry, I instantly didn't see you as a threat knowing you had only Taijutsu. After being beaten like that I realize I have a lot to learn."

"No problem! Making mistakes is the only sure fire way of learning from them!" He put his thumb up and smiled. At one point you could almost see a twinkle come off his teeth.

"Well the Chunin exams just passed so you'll be waiting a while before you get the chance to test what you learn with us. Are you ready to start your Byakugan and Taijutsu training?"

"Yes! Lets resume my training!"

End of Chapter 8

As you can see I'll be delaying the Akatsuki's actions for a while, to be more precise, about a year. Yep to give Kazumu time to settle into the Leaf Village he will spend a year there training and becoming a Chunin and eventually a Jonin. I am actually going to do another timeskip next chapter, to the start of the chunin exams. This point on most of my story is original and no longer follows the plot of shippuden. Pein's delay makes sense. If Nagato knows how powerful Kazumu is he isn't going to act rash right after he left. I will be showing a few moments in the one year timeskip through flashbacks like last time but not as much. About two for his training with Neji and Guy respectively. and I was thinking about getting some little bits with some love interests. Just to make things interesting. Anyway the Chunin exams will be taking place at the Hidden Sand. (Yay Gaara haha) For a reunions sake and we already had one at the leaf. This does also mean all the characters Kazumu will face will be originals, I really hope i can pull that off. If you have any other suggestions like always give me a message.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

_'Thoughts'_ will be done by Italic.

Hello again, as I said at the end of the last chapter this one will start one year after the events of the last one. Where Kazumu's training with Team Guy has been fruitful and he's heading off the the Hidden Sand for the Chunin exams. I will be making every exam an original so my apologies if they aren't as good as they could be. I will try my best. As i said from here on this is a major alteration from Naruto Shippuden, although after the Chunin exams I will probably be back to the correct story.

Chapter 9- Reunions and Restrictions.

"Off to the Hidden Sand again. I've waited for this day for a while."

"Yeah! We've both been training hard and we finally get our chance at Chunin."

"Well I'm not in the same boat as you. You've taken over five years to get to this stage."

"Give me a break Kazumu. That sounds like something Sakura would say to me."

"It seems like she's rubbing off on me then."

"But we're a team Kazumu! Just cut me some slack would ya?"

"Stop arguing you guys!"

"I'm beginning to see how mix-matched this team really is."

"Well we needed three Genin so he was one of our only choices."

"Hey! Don't say it like that! You make me sound like baggage!"

"Couldn't have put it better myself."

"Naruto help me out here!"

"He didn't mean it Konohamaru. Right Kazumu?"

"If it makes him feel better, then I didn't mean it."

"That's a terrible apology!"

"It wasn't an apology."

"Shut the hell up!" Kazumu, Naruto and the new boy Konohamaru were then all punched by Sakura simultaneously.

"Ow!" They all said in unison. It had been a year since Kazumu joined the Leaf Village. During this time he had spent almost all of it training with either Guy or Neji. Surprisingly even though the training he was assigned was put into place so he would master the Byakugan, he would always give more effort in with his Taijutsu training with Lee and Guy. As for Naruto, he spent half of his years worth learning a variation of the Rasengan with Kakashi. His training was successful but the jutsu had a major backfire, causing almost permanent damage to his chakra network. He then was requested to train at Mount Myoboku by Lord Fukasaku (who was actually a toad). There he learnt to use a special type of chakra and mastered the art of Senjustu. As it stands the two most powerful Genin in the world are headed towards the Hidden Sand in the same team. Along for the ride is Naruto's close friend Konohamaru. Because of Naruto, Konohamaru was able to learn the Rasengan in the same way as Naruto. It was suggested because he knows such a high level jutsu that he be placed on their team for the Chunin exams.

"Do you think we have much of a chance this year?" Konohamaru was a bit jittery.

"Unless the Akatsuki themselves show up I think we're fine." Naruto smiled joking around.

"Umm, you do remember my previous occupation right?" Kazumu pulled a weird face at Naruto.

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that! You were in the Akatsuki!" At least Naruto hasn't changed much.

"Sure was, but that's not important. I'm a little more concerned with meeting the head of a village that I fried with a chakra cannon a while ago." Kazumu was nervous about meeting Gaara after all this time.

"Kazumu, you saved his life! I'm sure he's forgiven you for what you did to him." Naruto as always being optimistic. "If I were you I'd watch out for his sister more than anything."

"His sister? Wait, never mind, I don't want to know. It can't be good either way." Kazumu was now pretty worried after meeting the dangerous women of the Leaf Village.

"Anyway Kazumu how did Guy's training go? I'm sure he worked you into the ground." Kakashi joined the conversation, walking behind them.

"Yeah he did, but it only made me want to train more! Sure I got their fighting style and forms in a few days thanks to the Sharingan, but the strength needed to be at their level took so long to achieve." Kazumu looked down at his black Leaf Village headband that was tied around his neck. "But it was all worth it, compared to Guy's training, Neji's was relatively easy so most of my time went to standard Taijutsu and strength training. Even though I also have the Gentle Fist, Guy's style suits me a lot better."

"Why does that not surprise me." Kakashi figured he would favor the all-round style of the Strong Fist because he can pair it with his various Dojutsu, instead of the gentle fist that can only be used with the Byakugan.

"I have no idea what you mean. It's not like I forgot about my Gentle Fist training altogether" Kazumu smiled. He looked back at Kakashi to reveal his Sharingan was active.

"Why are you using that right now? You're going to wear youself out before you start the exams." Kakashi knowing the amount of chakra the Sharingan consumes first hand was a little concerned.

"Oh yeah I forgot to tell you. Even though I was only supposed to train with Team Guy, anytime I wasn't with them I was working on the Sharingan and Rinnegan by myself, and thanks to the prolonged usage during the past year I can use the Sharingan pretty easily now without much strain on my chakra." Kazumu smiled again.

"Hmm. You've come a long way Kazumu." Kakashi sounded proud of him, but also a little jealous.

"Thanks Kakashi." He retracted the Sharingan. "It looks like we're here." Kazumu's facial expression changed to a serious one as they arrived at the entrance to the Hidden Sand. Lots of people were gathered at the entrance for the Chunin exams, ninja from different villages were all coming together to rise to the title of Chunin in their respective villages. "Got a lot of competition huh guys?"

"Please! We are going to cream all of these guys!" Naruto yelled this out and started getting dirty looks from a few of the other ninja. "Yeah that's right, you heard me!"

"Shut your mouth Naruto!" Sakura came out of nowhere and got Naruto in a headlock. "Don't worry about him. He's just crabby from the long walk." She apologized to the crowd, then dragged Naruto away. Kazumu headed through the crowd as if he was being dragged, not noticing his group from the Leaf calling out to him. He kept going and eventually got to a small group of people gathered around three ninja. Kazumu instinctively approached the one in the middle, he was wearing white and green robes and had a matching hat that had the kanji symbol for 'wind' on it.

"..." He didn't speak to Kazumu, he simply stared at him. Kazumu then suddenly got down on his hands and knees.

"Please forgive me Lord Kazekage!" It turns out it was Gaara in his Kazekage robes.

"Stand." Gaara said. He still had the same mysterious feeling about him. Kazumu got up off the ground, not looking him in the eyes.

"I'll take any punishment you see fit. Just please forgive me for what I did to you."

"Raise you head." Kazumu slowly looked up to Gaara to see that the young Kazekage was smiling. "It's good to see you again."

"After what I did you shouldn't be happy to see me at all."

"Nonsense." Kazumu's eyes widened. "I could... hear you during the extraction. It was faint but you asked if I was going to survive the extraction correct?" Kazumu nodded. "Which means you had no idea what was going to happen to me and you were worried. Not only that you nearly gave your life to save me, giving me another chance to protect my village, and that means the world to me."

"I really did that much?"

"Indeed. Not only this either. I heard from the Leaf Village a little while later and they told me of an Akatsuki member that had abandoned the others and had become a shinobi of the Leaf."

"Yeah, that would be me." Kazumu forced a smile.

"... one of the greatest things in this life is when someone starts following the correct path. Proving their existence by protecting the ones they care about."

"Are you saying you're happy I'm with the Leaf now?" Gaara didn't answer. He simply outstretched his hand toward Kazumu. He then did the same and Kazumu shook hands with Gaara. Kazumu opened his mouth to speak and struggled to get his words out. "Thank you Gaara." He then smiled, knowing that he was alright was enough closure to him.

"KAZUMU!" The others from the Leaf were looking for him.

"I'll see you later Gaara, I have to get ready for the exam." Kazumu ran off to find everyone else going back through the crowd.

"Kazumu!" Out of nowhere Might Guy surprise kicked Kazumu in the face making him fall onto the ground.

"That's on me. I should've seen that coming after all of the training we did." Kazumu said it like it was normal.

"Kazumu I just wanted to say I hope you do well and make Chunin!" Guy then did what was known as his 'Nice Guy Smile'.

"Thank you Guy. The extra training I did will be a great help. I can't believe we thought of a technique like that."

"Don't sell yourself short. You made that all on your own, I just helped you use it." Guy smiled at him again. "Also I have a personal request for you. No, actually it's an order."

"An order? Well whatever it is I'll do it. I owe you that much for training me."

"Ok! You are not to use any of your eye jutsu except the Byakugan in the Chunin exams!" Kazumu almost fell over.

"What! What if I come face to face with Naruto? Or another with equal strength?"

"Not to worry. The training we did will guarantee your victory!" He then smiled once again, suddenly jumping in the air away from Kazumu. "Don't forget that Kazumu!" Kazumu stood there dumbfounded.

_'Wow. Out of all the messed up things to ask me. I've been training my other abilities like crazy, dying to try them out in a situation like this, but I guess I have to save them for another time. Regular Ninjutsu, my evolved Taijutsu and "that" jutsu should get me to Naruto, but I don't know if I can beat him without the Rinnegan. I'll admit this is the strongest I've ever been but the same can be said for Naruto. I just hope that-'_

"We finally found you!" Kazumu snapped out of it and noticed Shikamaru, Ino and Choji in front of him. "We have to get you to register. If you don't hurry you're going to miss it. Go with Ino and Choji. I'm a proctor so I have to go and organize the first stage of the exam." Shikamaru then left and Ino grabbed Kazumu's arm, dragging him trough the crowd.

"Come on! There's no way I'm going to let you miss out after all the training you did." Ino was determined that's for sure. She kept pushing through the crowd and they made it with time to spare. They stopped in front of the building opposite to each other. "Kazumu?"

"Yeah Ino?"

"Just promise me you won't do anything rash in the exam?" Ino had a concerned look in her eyes.

"Sure. I wouldn't do anything rash anyway. Are you worried about me or something?" Kazumu smiled at Ino and her face went red.

"It's not like that!" She got defensive and punched him in the arm.

"Oww, what was that-" Kazumu was cut off by Ino, she had her arms around him, holding him with her head pressed against his chest. "Ino." Kazumu held her as well. She was shivering in his arms. "I'll be ok. It's just the Chunin exams." She broke the hug and lightly punched him in the arm again.

"I'll see you later Kazumu." She then ran off, disappearing into the crowd.

(Flashback six months ago)

Kazumu was sitting down with the Hyuga family having dinner when he had some news to announce. "I'm moving out tomorrow everyone."

"Are you sure Kazumu." Neji said. "Where will you be staying?"

"Naruto begins his training at Mount Myoboku tomorrow and he'll be gone for the amount of time left till the Chunin exams. I'll be moving into his room for now and by the time the exams are done I'll have my own room like his." Kazumu stood up and bowed. "Thank you for having me all this time." Hiashi got up and also bowed.

"It was our pleasure Kazumu." During his stay Kazumu had become good friends with most of the residents of the Hyuga household.

The next day Kazumu was roaming around the village and he noticed a flower shop. Since he had received a little Ryo from Tsunade to spend as he pleases he decided to buy the Hyuga's some flowers as a thank you present. He walked in and started to look around but the store was empty. "Hello?"

"I'll be out in a second!" A girl yelled from out back and Kazumu knew he had heard that voice before.

"Ino?" He heard some stuff fall over out back.

"Umm... Who is that?" It sounded like she made a bit of a mess and was putting stuff back.

"Come out and see!" Kazumu then hid next to the doorway as Ino stepped out and he poked her in the back, making her jump in the air and scream.

"What did you do that for!" Without knowing who it was she punched Kazumu in the stomach, sending him flying.

"Oww. You and Sakura really need to tone it down on the hitting." She then finally noticed who it was.

"Kazumu!" She suddenly dropped the rage and smiled. "It's been so long. I haven't seen you since you started training."

"Yeah I know." Kazumu got off the ground and brushed himself off. "I've been pretty busy with Team Guy. I never imagined it would be this hard." Ino chuckled.

"Yeah that sounds like Guy. Him and Lee are two of a kind." Ino walked over to Kazumu. "So why did you come here? Getting some flowers for a girl?" Ino teased Kazumu a bit.

"Don't be stupid!" He overreacted a little. "Sorry, I just wanted to buy some flowers for the Hyuga family for taking me in for the last six months."

"So that's where you've been all this time." Ino walked over to an arrangement of flowers in a basket. "I suggest this one, it would be nice for a thank you present." Kazumu walked over and grabbed the basket and went to the other side of the shop and grabbed a single violet, he then took it all to the counter and he handed Ino the money. "Umm, that flower doesn't really fit with this arrangement of flowers very well."

"That's because it's not for the arrangement." He moved the basket aside and held the violet up to Ino. "It's for you." Ino's face went completely red.

"F-For me?" She took the flower out of Kazumu's hand and held it between both her hands. "Thank you Kazumu."

"It's fine." Kazumu's face went a little red as well. "It matched your clothes so it reminded me of you." Kazumu picked up the basket and started to head out the door. "I'll see you aro-"

"Wait Kazumu." Ino was staring at the ground. "Do you want to catch up with me tonight? Like have dinner with me and talk?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Kazumu smiled and his face went redder.

"I guess I am. So?"

"Sure, I'd love to. Where do you want to go? I have enough money left to pay for both of us."

"No I couldn't ask you to pay for me as well."

"I insist Ino, don't worry. The only place in the village I've heard of is that Ichiraku Ramen place Naruto always goes on about. Do you want to go there?"

"Ramen? Ok then if you really want to." Ino seemed a little under whelmed.

"I'm just thinking I'd rather be with you in a more casual setting ." Ino turned away blushing.

"Ok then Kazumu."

"I'll meet you here at sundown. Is that ok?"

"Sounds good to me. See you then!" Ino ran out back, probably to get ready.

Kazumu delivered his gift with high appreciation coming from Hiashi and Hinata. He then got ready for his date with Ino. "Ok I guess this will do for my clothes." He borrowed some clothes from Neji that made him look like a real Hyuga while still looking like himself. He had the same shirt as Neji but darker with black trousers. He looked down at his hand, still baring his Akatsuki ring on his left pinkie. "Heh, good times." He said sarcastically as he headed out to meet up with Ino. He waited for a while and it was completely dark out now. "I guess she wants to keep me waiting."

"Sorry I'm late." Kazumu turned around and saw Ino standing there. She was wearing a short dress that matched the same colour as her ninja gear. She also had her hair down with a violet pinned on the side of it. Kazumu went red and couldn't stop staring. "Don't look at me like that!"

"Ok I'm sorry!" She walked up to him and they headed off. "Is that the flower I got you in your hair?"

"Yes I wanted to keep it on me. Even though I work with flowers all the time this one is really special to me."

"Why is that?" Ino looked away for a second.

"Because you gave it to me." They both kept walking in silence after she said that. Kazumu was speechless and Ino was embarrassed.

"Well we're here. Lets just try and relax ok?" Kazumu smiled at her.

"Ok!" Ino smiled back and they went inside.

"Hey what are you guys doing here!" They both froze when none other than Naruto was already there with about ten empty bowls stacked up next to him.

"Umm, well you see" Kazumu couldn't say it.

"Oooh." Naruto had a big grin across his face now. "Are you two on a date!"

"Knock it off Naruto!" Kazumu let Ino sit down first and then joined her.

"So what are you two up to?" Naruto continued to pester them.

"We wanted to catch up. We hadn't seen each other in a while. Why are you still here anyway? Don't you have to go tomorrow?" Kazumu questioned Naruto, changing the subject.

"Well there's no way I'm missing out on Ichiraku's before I go. I won't be able to have this again for a while after tomorrow." Naruto then finished the bowl he was eating, got up and paid for his food and went to leave. "But I'll be fine, you two have fun ok?" Naruto winked and ran off.

"Man he's annoying." Ino finally spoke up.

"Yeah, you're right about that." Kazumu couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment.

"Kazumu?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm happy I met you." Kazumu was a bit thrown off hearing this.

"I feel the same way, but this doesn't sound like you Ino."

"Well you wouldn't like the real me, I'm aggressive and I-"

"Don't say anything like that about yourself. There isn't a single thing about you I'd change you know?"

"Really? I just think that I need-"

"You don't need anything Ino. You're fine the way you are." Ino smiled.

"I want to thank you, because of you I no longer think of this other guy. You've replaced him, and in a way you remind me of him."

"Well I don't know who this guy is but he's missing out." Kazumu smiled at her.

Throughout the night they talked non-stop about what had happened the past six months they hadn't seen each other. Kazumu even told her a few things about his time in the Akatsuki and how he was found. They acted pretty different from each other but it worked for them, bringing them closer as the night progressed. Kazumu noticed the time and started walking her home. On the way Ino grabbed Kazumu's arm and held his hand as they kept walking. Kazumu hadn't been in a situation like this before but he seemed to be enjoying a lot more than stressing out about it. They arrived back at Ino's house and they stood facing each other in silence.

"Umm, I had a great time Ino. Thank you."

"It's fine. I had a lot of fun as well."

"We'll have to do this again really soon, as long as I can get time off for training."

"Definitely." Ino was surprisingly quiet the whole night.

"Well I'll see you again soon ok?"

"Yeah ok Kazumu. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Ino." Kazumu started to walk away and was suddenly stopped by Ino, wrapping her arms around him from behind. "Ino? Are you ok?" He moved her arms and turned to see she was crying.

"It's just you remind me of him so much." She could barely speak through her tears. "You aren't the same but it's just a feeling I get from you. He left and I don't want that to happen ever again! I really like you, more than Sasuke, and I don't want to lose you!" She fell into Kazumu's arms, trying to hold back her tears.

"Sasuke again huh? That guy's name keeps coming up in my life." Kazumu held Ino tightly "But no matter what he did, I promise you right here and now I'll never leave you." Ino's tears stopped and she looked up to Kazumu.

"You..really mean it?"

"Yes, and I don't break promises." Ino didn't say anything for a while.

"Thank you Kazumu." She then held Kazumu closer and held her head to his chest.

(Flashback End)

"You've been registered 'Kazumu'. Next!" Kazumu finished the registration for the exam and headed into a large room where all the other ninja taking the Chunin exams were.

"Kazumu! Over here!" Naruto called out to him with Konohamaru jumping in the air so he'd notice. "We thought we lost you for a bit there."

"Well I'm here now so lets get this done guys." Kazumu had a look of determination that no one could break.

"That's the way!" Naruto being as loud mouthed as always.

"Quiet down. Have you seen anyone that might be a challenge?" Kazumu looked at the crowd.

"Not really, using Sage Mode I could find out!"

"Any excuse to use it huh? Don't bother, I'll just use the Byakugan." Kazumu activated his Byakugan and scanned the room, checking the intensity of the ninja's chakra flow. "Three."

"What?" Naruto and Konohamaru said in unison.

"There are three ninja I can see that pose somewhat of a threat, but that's all." He retracted the Byakugan and sat down.

"Aww, what a let down!" Naruto sat next to Kazumu. "So what's the plan?" Suddenly two big doors on the other side of the room opened and a big group of Sand Village Jonin walked into the room.

"Silence everyone!" The bellowing voice of a woman called out through the room. "I am Temari. Your proctor for the first stage of the Chunin Exam. Everyone will follow the rules given to them and not engage each other unless permitted by a proctor." Temari took charge pretty quickly. "So without anymore delay, let the Chunin Exam begin!"

End of Chapter 9

Hello again, sorry for the delay on this one. I will be making all the tests originals except the last one which will be the same as all the others. I actually went online and found a Shippuden OVA that has the Hidden Sand's Chunin exams, but I like my ideas better than that so I'm going to pretend I didn't see it. I hope I did the parts with Ino alright. I'm not used to writing that way and I wanted this to be a part of the story. I chose Ino for a number of reasons but I'd rather not bore you with the details. If you have any suggestions then give me a message as always.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

_'Thoughts'_ will be done by Italic.

Chapter 10- Let The Chunin Exam Begin!

"Everyone hand in your papers and in return you'll receive a number. This number will determine where you stand for the exam." Temari shouted as one by one the people in the room went to grab numbers from the various Jonin organising the event. Eventually, Kazumu and his team went up to grab their numbers. Kazumu came out with 47, Naruto came out with 51 and Konohamaru got stuck with 117.

"That's not fair! You two are close to each other." Konohamaru was unhappy about his placement.

"It doesn't matter, I know what to do in this test. You just have to answer yes for the last question in the test." Naruto said. He had done the Chunin exam once before and assumed the test was the same one.

"Are you sure about that? What if they have a different one in the Sand?" Kazumu looked at Naruto funny. He knows he's been wrong on more than one occasion.

"I'm sure Kazumu. Just you wait, we will enter a big room with desks all over and Chunin lined up on the sides watching us."

"Ok everyone listen up! The first stage of the exam is about to begin! Make your way through the doors at the other side of the room!" Temari announced, as the ninja started heading to the doors.

"Moment of truth Naruto. If you're wrong you owe me a bowl at Ichiraku's." Kazumu had grown to love the ramen there just as much as Naruto.

"That's fine because I'm positive it's-" Naruto stopped talking as they ended up in a massive room with a large number of wooden stumps on one side and a lot of Chunin and Jonin on the other.

"I'll have miso ramen thanks." Kazumu put his order in as Naruto stood there dumbfounded.

"But I don't understand. Why would they give us numbers then?" Once all the people in the Chunin exam had entered Temari spoke up once again.

"Pay attention everyone!" She stood on the other side of the room really far away from the stumps holding a big fan. "Everyone look for their number in the stumps behind you and stand on the stump that matches you number!" Everyone began the mad scavenger hunt for their numbers.

"Is this the test? Because this is already hard." Kazumu smirked.

"I doubt it, I just don't like where this is going." Naruto looked over at Temari and got a chill down his spine.

"Well my number is here, so you can't be too far away." Kazumu cheating with the Byakugan found his spot and jumped on. "I don't know what they could possibly have planned for us like this." He said to himself. Naruto had already gone off the find his spot.

"Ok now that everyone is ready I'll explain the test!" Temari yelled out. "Since the amount of people here today is too high for a regular Chunin exam we have chosen a test that relies strictly on advanced chakra control so we can find the best candidates for Chunin." Everyone's face went sour as she told them this, expecting most of them to fail like that. "The rules are simple enough. One! You must not leave the top of your stump at any time! Two! You can try to knock others off as long as it doesn't include lethal force! And three! If anyone in your three person team falls off, everyone in that team fails the test!" Roars went all over the room after hearing the rules of the test.

"That's really unfortunate." Kazumu worried to himself.

"Why's that?" He looked back to see Naruto was only a row behind him. "We can handle this fine!"

"Well you and I can help each other if we need."

"We won't need to help each other though, what's your point?"

"You moron, Konohamaru is on the other side of the room!" Naruto almost fell of his stump hearing this.

"Damn! If he goes out then we all fail!" Naruto finally understood.

"Well I guess there is no point in worrying about it too much. There is nothing we can do about it." Kazumu said this but he was still worried. Not about failing but about Konohamaru's well-being.

"Oh I forgot to mention rule two only applies if you can manage to do anything to anyone else at all." Everyone looked back at Temari who was standing there with her fan and countless other ninja had joined her with fans as well.

_'Uh oh...'_

"That's right! During this test the Chunin here with me are going to be making sure you are all hit with a constant gale force winds that get stronger and stronger as the test progresses!" And the roars of the Genin returned. "Silence! The test will begin in a moment! Prepare yourselves!"

"Naruto. Are you sure that your chakra control is good enough to handle this?" He looked back to see that Naruto was standing there with a weird handsign and his eyes closed. _'If I had to take a guess, he's going to use his training at Myoboku to help with this one.' _He turned back around to see Temari was ready for thing to get under way. He looked in the crowd of Chunin behind her and noticed that Ino was hiding in the back. _'What is she doing here? As far as I know she isn't a proctor.' _Their eyes met and Ino simply smiled and waved to him. _'I really hope she didn't come here to see me. I need to concentrate on this. Wait I'm already losing focus by thinking about this. Get you head out of the clouds Kazumu! Hmm, I might have to use "that" jutsu to ensure I'll pass this. I did want to save it but it seems like the logical choice. Well it's safe to assume that-'_

"Begin!" Temari shouted lifting her fan above her head.

"God damn daydreams!" Kazumu cursed to himself.

"One Moon! Wind style! Great Breakthrough!" All the fan wielders slammed their fans down at once hitting all the participants with a wind that held amazing power. As it got to Kazumu the wind didn't effect him at all. He had his eyes closed holding up a handsign. For some reason the wind simply avoided him completely hitting the people on his sides with more velocity. He then opened his eyes to reveal that his eyes were white as if he had activated the Byakugan but his nerves were retracted, making him look like part of the Hyuga clan in a way. He slightly turned his head to see that Naruto hadn't moved from his spot at all. Still holding the same stance with his eyes closed, but this time the area around his eyelids was tinted orange. Kazumu ignored this and looked around for Konohamaru, as he did he notice a small number of ninja falling off the stumps but most of them could handle this with their current skills it seemed.

_'Byakugan.' _Kazumu fully activated it this time and looked around for Konohamaru. He eventually spotted him further down the room and noticed he was being targeted by about five different ninja who were throwing wire strings over him trying to pull him off his stump. _'That's not good' _Kazumu readied himself. "Eight Trigrams! Air Palm!" He struck the air and a shock wave of chakra surged out directed at the ones harassing Konohamaru, but soon after the wind took the attack and knocked about five ninja to the side of Kazumu right off their stumps. _'Damn it! How did I not realise that would happen! I have to help Konohamaru somehow!' _

"Two Moons!" Just then the fans were slammed down again with an even greater force and Kazumu watching Konohamaru saw the ninja around him throw their wire strings again only to get themselves tangled up with them thanks to the increased wind and they were knocked right off with Konohamaru just managing to stay on.

_'Thank god, that was too-' _Kazumu was cut off from his thought as three of the ninja in front of him were knocked off at the same time and were headed straight for him. "Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" Suddenly chakra began to expel from his entire body and he then started spinning around on the spot, creating a sphere of chakra around him knocking all the ninja out of his path. _'Speaking of too close...' _He let out a sigh of relief as he looked around to see a lot more people her falling off now. At least a quarter of the Genin had been eliminated from the test. _'Well that didn't take too long.' _He looked back yet again to see that Naruto still had the same stance. He hadn't moved an inch since the start of the test. _'Naruto you never cease to amaze me. I didn't think you would be able to handle this amount of chakra control.' _He looked around again seeing the amount of ninja falling has completely stopped. _'I think it's about time I go on the offensive a bit.' _He then released multiple Air Palms, knocking off a decent amount of the people around him. _'I would go further but I doubt I would reach the others from here thanks to this wind.'_

"Three Moons!" They slammed down their fans once more and a lot of ninja were instantly knocked off just from this increase in pressure.

_'Wow, at this rate my jutsu is going to fall. I've never used it for this long before but I guess there's no time like the present to train. From the looks of Naruto right now I'm going to need this to beat him in the end.' _Once again Naruto's stance was held, he was completely motionless. _'Out of all the times to be serious at least he chose the right one, but I can't help but think I'm forgetting something important...Konohamaru!' _He looked back over to see him struggling to keep himself upright and his eyes were squinted up from the wind hitting them. _'I have to help him somehow. It doesn't look like he can hold on much longer and they only just started at this speed. Come on Kazumu think!' _His eyes opened and he weaved a few handsigns and wood began sprouting from his arm towards Konohamaru. You could see the effort it was taking to get it through the wind on Kazumu's face. It eventually reached him just as he was about to fall off and he hit his back against the wood wall behind him. Konohamaru snapped out of it and regained his ground thanks to Kazumu and turned towards him and mouthed the words 'thank you'. _'That was lucky. If I was any later we would be in trouble.' _Kazumu was a little worn out after this. _'As if keeping my defence up was hard enough using that wood style to help him was too far. I've never been that fluent with it to begin with. I guess I'll have to work on it later and build up my skills with Ninjutsu.' _The wood style jutsu then retracted back into Kazumu's arm and his eyes went back to normal. _'No good! I couldn't balance the jutsu!' _Kazumu was now feeling the full force of the wind and relying on nothing but chakra control now, he was handling it alright but the jutsu he used are taking their toll.

"Time's up!" The winds suddenly stopped making Kazumu and Konohamaru almost fall off automatically. "Congratulations on passing the first stage of Chunin exam for those who did." Temari announced as everyone began to jump off their stumps. "If I were you I would check to see if your team mates made it through before coming up here, only as a team can you pass this stage." Kazumu jumped off and noticed Naruto was still standing the same way as before.

"Ok that's getting old. NARUTO!" Kazumu yelled at him making Naruto fall of his stump and straight on his face. "Much better." He said smiling.

"Oww! Why did you do that Kazumu!?" He looked up and his eyes looked different. They were yellow with horizontal barred pupils and he still had the orange tint around his eyes.

"What is that Naruto?" Naruto got up and calmed down a bit.

"It's my Sage Mode. It's what I learned at Mount Myoboku." He smiled.

_'Sage Mode? Is this what I'll have to end up facing in the end? Hmm, I'm not looking forward to that. Knowing Naruto there is a million things that form can accomplish. I don't know how I'm going to beat him without my Rinnegan. But I guess I'll worry about that when the time comes."_

"Kazumu?" He snapped out of it and looked behind him to see Konohamaru. "Thanks for saving me there."

"No problem. We're a team after all." He smiled at him and fell on one knee. "I guess I have to avoid wood style more often. That and my new jutsu together is too much for me. Plus I've been too focused on Taijutsu this past year." Kazumu picked himself back up. "I'll be fine. We need to head to the sign-in and get checked in for the next stage." They nodded and walked over with Kazumu to the desk and they got signed for the next stage without a hitch.

"That was a good save back there." Kazumu turned to see Temari talking to him. "He was just about to fall as you got him right?"

"Y-Yeah it was a close call." Kazumu laughed nervously. After seeing how forceful she is in the exam, he wouldn't want to get on her bad side.

"You're also the Akatsuki member that kidnapped my brother right...?" Kazumu froze. Temari's voice was so mixed around that you could tell how mad she was.

"Umm... Yes?" Kazumu was shaking, after hearing Naruto's warning about Gaara's sister he was really concerned now.

"Well that's all. Run along you little Genin brat." Temari then walked off. She sounded mad but she probably understood what happened from Gaara.

"Phew! I thought I was going to die!" He exhaled in relief. Then fell over again. "This is weird. I shouldn't feel this weak..." Naruto and Konohamaru made sure he was ok and then someone else showed up.

"Kazumu, are you alright?" He looked up to see Ino with a very worried face "I thought I said don't overdo it." She knelt down next to him.

"I'm fine, I think..." Kazumu sounded pretty unsure. "I just don't know why I feel this drained. I didn't do that much."

"Well you should get to your hotel room for now. The next stage doesn't start till tomorrow so you should rest." Ino helped him get up and put his arm over her shoulder.

"I'm getting sick of being like this."

"It'll be ok, just let people help you. Naruto, Konohamaru. I'll take him to his room and make sure he's fine for tomorrow."

"Sounds good!" Naruto then took Konohamaru and ran off. Kazumu and Ino then started walking to the hotel that the Leaf visitors were assigned to.

"Thank you Ino." Kazumu still being helped by Ino sounded pretty unhappy.

"What's wrong Kazumu?"

"I don't know, that's the problem."

"So you're talking about the dreams. And your injuries."

"Yeah. They come out of nowhere. I feel like it gets worse every time this happens."

"And even Tsunade had no idea what is was right?"

"That's right. I have something wrong with me and not even the greatest medical ninja in the world knows what it is."

"It's ok Kazumu, it's not your fault."

"That's not the point!" Kazumu yelled and shook her off him. "I'm not supposed to be this weakling that can't walk after all the training I did!" He tried to start walking again and fell to the ground, his face slamming into the sand.

"Kazumu!" Ino started helping him and he grabbed her arm stopping her. He then looked up to her.

"Please...help me." Kazumu's vision blurred and he passed out with Ino screaming his name.

"..."

_'?'_

"Guess who Kazumu?"

_'Why am I not surprised.' _

"Well I'm always here. Waiting."

_'Waiting? For what you freak!" _

"That's not important."

_'Sounds important to me. Wait a minute, are you the one doing this to me!'_

"Of course not Kazumu. I wouldn't want to hurt you like this."

_'I find that hard to believe. Do you at least know what's wrong with me.'_

"Yes, well I think I do anyway."

_'Well? Spit it out!'_

"Lets just say you're... Incomplete."

_'What? I don't understand.'_

"You're missing something and I can't tell you what it is or I run the risk of you never getting it"

_'How __convenient. The one person who knows and he can't tell me.'_

"If I tell you you may never get better."

_'Wait. So if I get this thing I'm missing I'll be rid of you and my weaknesses?'_

"That's a mean way to put it, but yes Kazumu. Anyway I have other things to attend to. Till next time."

_'Don't you dare leave like this!'_

"..."

_Great. He's gone. Perfect." _Kazumu could see a glimpse of light and he began to open his eyes.

"Kazumu..." He woke to see he was in bed with Ino watching over him.

"Hi Ino." He said it so casually like there was nothing wrong.

"You're an idiot."

"That's about right." Suddenly Kazumu felt a sharp pain in his side. "Oh no."

"What is it!" Ino looked at what Kazumu was holding onto in pain and saw his bed sheets were soaked in blood. "You had another nightmare didn't you!"

"Sorry I didn't say so sooner." He got the sheets of and took of his shirt to reveal the rip in his skin around the right side of his ribcage, dripping blood still.

"Next time be quicker. This one is really bad." Ino's hands started glowing with chakra as she began healing Kazumu.

"What would I do without you." He smiled jokingly at her.

"Don't be stupid. I'm just helping you." Ino couldn't help but smile a bit as well. Kazumu just laid back as the wound was healed and he thought about what his mysterious 'friend' said.

_'So I'm incomplete huh? That's not really the best answer I could get. What could I be missing? An ability? A person? That answer is way to vague to understand for me, heck for anyone. I could ask Shikamaru for some help on this one. He is the smartest guy I've met so it wouldn't be a bad idea I guess, but...I don't know if anyone can help. I don't think I can find out either. He did say if I find out I may never get it so is there anything I could do?'_

"Kazumu?" He looked up to see that Ino was talking to him the whole time.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought." He sat upright in bed. "So I'm guessing it's better now?"

"Yeah, as good as it can be at least."

"You should go to bed then, I don't want you worrying about me all night."

"Ok, but if you need anything just yell. I'll be in the next room." She got up and started walking towards the door. "I'd do anything to help you though this and I'm sure your team feels the same way, just let people in more often." She left and closed the door behind her.

_'Hmm, she's probably right about that one.' _Kazumu laid back again and went to sleep, hoping that his 'friend' wouldn't be there to greet him.

Kazumu woke the next morning, it was they day for the second stage of the Chunin exam. "I better get up and find-" Kazumu stopped talking as he realised he couldn't get up because something was on his legs. He looked to see Ino laying down with her knees on the ground and her upper body resting on Kazumu. "Looks like she ignored me after all." He started shaking her slightly. "Wake up Ino." She started to move and gradually opened her eyes.

"Oh, good morning Kazumu." She rubbed her eyes.

"I told you to go to bed Ino." He got out of bed and helped her up.

"But I was worried about you. I wanted to make sure you didn't have another nightmare."

"Well now I'm worried you didn't get enough sleep."

"I'm fine as long as you are Kazumu." She stood there still half asleep.

"Thank you." He walked up to her and put his arms around her. "You do way too much for me." Ino put her arms around him as well.

"All I do is heal you when you have your nightmares."

"It's so much more than that. You stay up all night to make sure I don't have one. You constantly worry about me. You're just always there for me." They both smiled together and then just to ruin the moment the door opened.

"Hey Kazumu you feeling bette-" It was Naruto and Konohamaru. "Oops, are we interrupting?" Kazumu and Ino separated quickly.

"Don't be stupid Naruto, what do you want anyway." Kazumu glared at him.

"Umm. The next stage is starting soon and I was hoping you were well enough to participate." Naruto reeled back from the look Kazumu was giving him.

"I should be ok for now thanks to Ino healing me last night."

"Oh so that's why she's here."

"Yes that is why, now are we going to head off to the exam or not?"

"Yeah lets get going then!" Naruto shouted and the four of them began heading to the next stage of the exam.

"Naruto where is the next stage being held?" Kazumu said. He was walking a little bit slower because of last night.

"At the entrance to the Hidden Sand. It looks like it has something to do with the desert." Naruto sighed. "I'm going to be so thirsty when it's done."

"That's the only thing you're worried about? What about the potential of actually fighting someone in this test? Shouldn't that be higher on the priority list?" Kazumu looked at Naruto funny.

"Oh yeah! But didn't you say only three were a challenge? That shouldn't be too much of a problem." Naruto cheerfully said.

"I did, but if they were to be on the same team we might have a lot more trouble." Kazumu pointed out.

"Lets just worry about it when the time comes. I'm sure we will be able to hanldle it after all the training we've done." Naruto smiled.

"Speak for yourself, I feel terrible right now."

"The nightmares huh?" Naruto's expression dropped. "They don't seem to be stopping much."

"No kidding." Kazumu and Ino looked down about it too.

"You have nightmares? So what?" Konohamaru said, not understanding the situation.

"It's not like that moron!" Naruto was the first to defend Kazumu. "Every time he has one of these 'nightmares' he get really bad injuries out of nowhere like cuts and gashes. Plus there's a man who talks to him every time it happens." Naruto looked at Kazumu with a worried expression. "Speaking of that, did he say anything important this time."

"Well, he said I'm like this because I'm missing something. And once I get it I'll be better and never have the nightmares again." Kazumu explained. "Although he was pretty vague about it."

"That doesn't help much. Does that guy ever say anything useful?" Naruto asked.

"Last night had to be the most useful thing he's ever said. So not really." Kazumu frowned. "Why is everything so messed up."

"Don't worry about it Kazumu. I'm sure you'll find what you're missing soon enough." Ino comforted him. "You just focus on not pushing yourself in the Chunin exam."

"Yeah there is no way that's going to happen. I wouldn't use wood style to save my life right now." He sounded a little too serious about that.

"Well I wouldn't go that far but I agree you should avoid wood style. If anything you should avoid ninjutsu as well." Ino had an idea in mind. "Maybe the nightmares only happen when you're drained of chakra so avoiding jutsu that use high levels of chakra might help you for now."

"...ok I'll try it. I have done a lot of Taijutsu training after all." He was hesitant to abandon his ninjutsu and dojutsu like that but it seemed like the right idea.

"Have some faith in me Kazumu!" Ino yelled at him.

"I do! I do! Trust me!" He said trying to bail himself out.

"Guys! Argue later, we're here." They looked ahead to see the remaining ninja for the Chunin exam gathered and the proctor along with small handful of Chunin were in front of them.

"Ok, it looks like the last group for this stage just arrived." Kazumu looked at the guy and he seemed a little familiar. He walked up for a closer look. "Hmm?" He turned to face him and they stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Ahh! It's you!" Kazumu and the proctor who turned out to be Kankuro yelled in unison.

"What are you doing here!?" Kankuro had a defensive stance.

"Umm, long story short. I'm with the Hidden Leaf now." He held up the headband around his neck. Kankuro looked at him funny.

"Lets just get this over with. I don't think my brain can handle this." He walked back a bit and turned to face the ninja. "Everyone the next stage of the Chunin exam will be explained soon! Be prepared!"

"Looks like this stage is going to be interesting." Naruto had a serious expression for once.

"I think so as well." Kazumu looked ready for it as well.

"How are you two so pumped all of a sudden?" Konohamaru questioned. Kazumu and Naruto put their hands up and pointed and at the same time said.

"That guy!"

End of Chapter 10. 

Sorry for the delay. It's just hard doing all this original stuff. I just hope you guys are liking it as much as I do.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

_'Thoughts'_ will be done by Italic.

Chapter 11- The Desert Is Cruel.

"That guy!"

"What!?" Konohamaru looked at them funny.

"He's one of the three I talked about before. And if I had to put them on order from best to worst, he's the best one." Kazumu had a fierce look in his eyes. "I'm actually excited, even if I'm a bit weakened." He pulled something out of his cloak. It was some white bandages that he started wrapping around his hands.

"Hey! That's the same thing 'bushy brows' wears!" Naruto yelled.

"Bushy brows? Oh! You mean Lee?" Kazumu said understanding the nickname. He had finished wrapping the bandages that were now covering his arm almost up to his elbows.

"Yeah, he uses the bandages for the Primary Lotus. Wait. Can you open the Eight Inner Gates!?" Naruto asked trying to piece it all together.

"You'll have to wait and see Naruto. I have a lot more that one trick up my sleeve, lets just leave it at that for now. I'm more interested in that Genin." He looked back over at their competition. He was a moderately tall guy who was slim and wore a hooded cloak covering everything except for the Sand Village headband wrapped around his arm.

"He seems a bit creepy." Konohamaru was standing there shaking.

"Calm down. With us here it will be ok." Naruto let off a cheesy smile and gathered the team together. "We need to go guys."

"Ok then." Kazumu turned to Ino. "Don't worry about me. I won't do anything stupid." She nodded and smiled at him as he left to go to the explanation.

"Hurry up everyone! I want this stage to start this year, not the next one!" Kankuro yelled out as the remaining candidates for the exam came together. "Ok, the next stage of the exam will be starting soon. This stage will take place in the desert as you may have already guessed and will require a long period of time out there, depending on your efficiency as a ninja of course." Kankuro looked around the crowd to see a few unhappy faces. "You haven't heard the worst part yet. You will be given one scroll at the beginning of the stage, either a Heaven or Earth scroll and by the end of the stage you must have one of each scroll in your teams possession."

"Hey! That's the same test that the Leaf did!" Naruto yelled out making everyone look at him.

"What do you want a medal? It doesn't matter, it makes no difference to the rules of this exam. You must get a Heaven and Earth scroll back to the village to pass this stage. And by this I mean you need to fight other teams to get you hands on the other scroll with no rules in place for the fighting."

"If that's the case where are the forms of consent? We need to agree to this." Naruto opening his mouth again didn't sound happy.

"There isn't one. You should all know what you're getting into. You don't need some stupid form to say so." Naruto crossed his arms and backed off. "Anyway, you will all be summoned out into the desert by various Chunin scattered around the entire area. There you will receive your scroll. You all have five minutes to prepare for this stage. Get ready." Kankuro then walked off to the other Chunin running the event.

"You mean people will probably die in this stage?" Konohamaru had a sad look in his eye.

"Unfortunately yes." Naruto said with the same level of grief in his voice. "Guys!" He huddled up with Kazumu and Konohamaru. "We have to promise each other right now that we won't kill anyone, or even try to."

"Of course we won't!" Kazumu stepped in first. "I could barely think of killing an actual enemy let alone a Genin in a test!" He seemed pretty outraged from the fact that Naruto thought he had to make them promise this.

"I'm sorry! I just had to be sure we were all on the same page." Naruto said trying to calm the situation down.

"Well you should know us well enough to know we'd never do something like that."

"Ok times up! We are starting, once your team has been called you will be reverse summoned out into the desert and receive your scroll." Kankuro announced as the teams were getting called one by one.

"Team Naruto!" A Chunin called signalling the three of them to come over to him.

"Yeah yeah we're coming." Naruto said still agitated from Kankuro's explanation.

"Ok then. I'm going to reverse summon you so stand on the contract glyph." The sand Chunin explained as they gathered together.

"Are you guys ready?" Kazumu asked and they both nodded.

"Ninja Art! Reverse Summoning Jutsu!" All the three of them could see was white smoke for a while and then they saw though it to see they were in the middle of the desert. The Sand Village wasn't even in view.

"Here's your scroll." They all looked behind them to see another sand ninja holding a scroll with the kanji for Heaven written on it. "Good luck. And remember not to open the scroll until you have returned both to the Sand Village. You have five days to bring both scrolls to the Sand." He then handed the scroll to Naruto.

"Thanks a lot." Kazumu bowed politely.

"Glad I could help. Good luck again. I hope you guys do well." He weaved a handsign and disappeared with a white puff of smoke. They all stood there looking around.

"So we started with the Heaven scroll again huh?" Naruto looked a little down saying this. "So who's gonna hold onto it during this stage?" They all looked at each other, thinking pretty hard about this choice.

"I'll do it." Kazumu stepped forward. "I'll have a summon look after it." He was about to ready the Rinnegan when Naruto stopped him.

"You promised Bushy-brows sensei you would only use the Byakugan during the exam Kazumu." Kazumu snapped and remembered his promise.

"Dammit!" He stood the thinking to himself for a bit. "One sec then." He bit his finger making blood trickle out, performed a few handsigns and slammed his hand on the sand. "Summoning Jutsu." A glyph appeared in the usual manner and white smoke came out.

"Kazumu! You have a summon!?" Kazumu smiled and fires started swelling around the summoning glyph. Suddenly a giant bird appeared out of the ground covered in flames.

_"You summoned me master. What do you desire?" _Naruto and Konohamaru were shocked. It was speaking to them telepathically.

"Helios."

_"Yes master?"_

"Stop calling me that. You know I don't see you as my slave. Could you please hide in the sun's light and look after this scroll for us?" The bird gazed at the other two and nodded. It took the scroll and the sun shined down and the bird disappeared.

_"I will await your call." _Naruto and Konohamaru stood there completely shocked.

"I guess I have some explaining to do huh?" With their mouths still wide open they nodded and Kazumu began.

(Flashback one month ago)

"Summons!"

"Summons?

"Yes! Summons!" Guy gave his famous smile. He was explaining summon animals and contracts to Kazumu.

"So like my Animal Path?" He thought he had it all figured out.

"No. More like this." He bit his finger, made some handsigns and slammed his hand on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" Guy summoned a big red turtle with a Leaf Village headband around it's neck. "This is a proper summon!"

"What the? Why am I here Guy!" The turtle definitely didn't sound happy.

"I'm sorry Ningame. I was using you as a demonstration." The turtle seemed to be the superior here.

"Then I'm going! I think I've done enough time here as a 'demonstration'." Ningame then disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Guy looked pretty embarrassed.

"Well, that was my summon Ningame..."

"Seemed very, nice?"

"I guess he was in a bad mood, again." Guy was down on himself now.

"It's ok Guy. I get what a summon is now. Even if Ningame was a poor sport about it." Guy perked back up. "So what do I have to do to get a summon?"

"You need to sign a blood contract with a summon animal like mine."

"But that could take forever to find one!" Guy then looked like he was leaving something out. "Guy? What is it?"

"Well... If you use the summoning jutsu without a contract you might be transported to the home of the summon animal that matches you personally." Kazumu smiled, bit his finger and started performing the handsigns. "But it's really risky Kazumu you can't-"

"Summoning Jutsu!" It was too late. Kazumu disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

"..."

"Where am I?" He looked around and there was literally nothing there. He was surrounded by nothing but darkness. "Ok, next time I'll listen to Guy." He started walking around. He didn't know where he was going or where he would end up but it was better than nothing. "What the hell is this place?" He kept going. On and on for hours and hours not finding anything. "Is there anyone out there?" He stopped walking and looked around some more. "Am I going to die here?"

_"No."_ Kazumu jumped and looked around. Still not seeing a thing.

"Who's there!?"

_"I am known as Helios." _This voice wasn't being heard though Kazumu's ears. It was speaking directly into his mind.

"Where are you? Why can't I see anything?"

_"You are in a realm where your kind cannot enter. Therefore, you do not belong here Kazumu."_

"How do you know my name?"

_"I can see into your mind. The life you have lived. The hardships you have suffered. Also, I have been waiting a very long time in this world of darkness for someone to show me the light."_

"W-what are you?" The voice didn't respond straight away.

_"I am the embodiment of the sun. Of light itself. I am a Phoenix who has not spread it's wings since the moment I was born." _The place lit up in a flame in front of Kazumu. Taking the form of a giant bird encased in a beautiful array of light and fire.

"Helios..." He stood there admiring the sight. A small flame appeared in front of Kazumu and it turned into a scroll that opened.

_"Sign your name in blood Kazumu. Then I will aid you when you call for me." _Kazumu nodded. He bit his finger and wrote his name with the blood. The scroll then disappeared. _"You will not be able to return to your would yourself. I shall aid you in this." _Helios approached Kazumu and touched him with his talon as a light began to envelop him. _"Till we meet again. Master."_

(Flashback end)

"And that's basically what happened. After that I ended up back at the training field and I went to Ichiraku's while I had the chance away from Guy." Naruto and Konohamaru were still standing there jaw dropped. "Come on guys it's just a summon. Sure no one else has ever formed a contract with him but it's not that bad." They snapped out of it and came to their senses.

"That is amazing!" Konohamaru yelled.

"So he's a phoenix then huh? That's one unique summon." Naruto said sounding a bit jealous.

"Yeah well I was saving him for another occasion." He gave Naruto a certain look when he said this. "But he is my only summon besides my Animal Path so I had no other option. The scroll is safest with him."

"Agreed. Now we should probably head out." Naruto started walking until he realised no one was walking with him. "What are you two doing?"

"I don't think we will need to go anywhere yet Naruto." Kazumu looked very serious his gaze was fixed on something.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea huh?" Konohamaru looked over to Kazumu.

"Yeah. Summoning Helios just brought attention to us. Not the greatest idea when you put it that way. The extra sunlight was basically a massive beacon." Kazumu pointed out his obvious mistake. "Well, lets just hope they have an Earth scroll." They all readied themselves for a fight. Kazumu took the stance of the Strong Fist from Guy, Naruto sat down and began entering Sage Mode and Konohamaru stood there doing nothing.

"I wish I had some special thing I could do." He pouted as Naruto stood up with his Sage Mode achieved.

"You will Konohamaru. Every ninja has something special to them, you just need to find it." Naruto took a stance and Konohamaru shook off the whining and readied himself as well.

"This is it guys. The start of our fight." The others nodded and they stared down their approaching enemies. Three figures came in fast and stopped in front of them.

"I'm guessing you guys caused that big light to appear." The one in the middle spoke first. There was nothing out of the ordinary about them. Just three Sand shinobi.

"That would be correct." Kazumu answered hesitantly, making sure not to cause a conflict.

"Look we don't want to start any fights if we don't need to ok? Are we both alright on that?" Kazumu nodded. "We're gonna tell you what scroll we have alright?" Kazumu nodded once more. "We have the Heaven scroll ok? If you have the same one we don't want a fight."

"We also have the Heaven scroll." Kazumu even after telling them this didn't move an inch.

"Good. Then we'll be taking that then." The three of them got their kunai out and took their stances. "A spare is always a good bargaining tool."

"You little fools. You really think we're going to let you take our scroll." Kazumu strengthened his stance. "Back off you two. They're mine."

"What!? Why do you get to have all the fun?" Naruto was the first to complain.

"Because my Taijutsu is the best way to get them down without killing them." Kazumu began walked towards them.

"You really think you can take on all three of us without killer intent? You Leaf Village Genin are all the same." The second he said that Kazumu snapped and before you could blink he had kicked the both ninja on the outside knocking them out cold and sending them in opposite directions and he was standing right next to the other Sand ninja and he whispered in his ear.

"Have you heard about the Akatsuki member that switched sides and joined the Leaf?"

"W-what about him?" He was shaking in fear at this point.

"Well I've still got a bit of the Akatsuki in my system." The Sand ninja froze from fear. "And I just might take it all out on you..."

"I-i-i-it's you!" He began stumbling backwards, falling over every time he tried to get away.

"Yes it's me. The one who defeated your Kazekage and the one who is about to kill you!" Kazumu ran towards him and he fainted there on the spot before he reached him. Naruto, Konohamaru and Kazumu completely froze. "Are you serious..." They broke into laughter and started walking off to the south. "I can't believe that just happened!"

"I know! What a bunch of little kids!" Naruto joined in.

"Wait did we grab their scroll?" Kazumu remembered and looked back.

"I'll go get it!" Konohamaru volunteered and went to go search them.

"Well so far so good hey Naruto?" Kazumu relaxed for a bit.

"Yeah. I didn't imagine this sort of atmosphere when we started. But I guess it's different this time now that we are out of everyone else's league!" He laughed to himself while Kazumu gave him a funny look.

"When you put it that way you sound very up yourself you know that?"

"Hey guys I found it!" Konohamaru returned with the Heaven scroll the Sand ninja had. "But why do we need this anyway?"

"As they said. It's a good bargaining tool. With this we can avoid one fight at least by handing it over." Kazumu explained.

"But that's a little cowardly." Konohamaru didn't understand very well.

"We don't want to kill anyone and that becomes harder with every fight we participate in. In one fight we might not even be able to defend well enough without killer intent just like those Sand ninja said." Kazumu took a very dire tone. Konohamaru just nodded and they all started walking off again.

"Kazumu?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think you should use your Byakugan to track some of the other ninja in the exam?" Naruto asked him.

"No. If I use too much chakra I'll end up having another nightmare." Kazumu said making everyone feel down just from mentioning it. "Time to let Sage Mode shine Naruto!" He smiled changing the subject.

"Sure! I'm still in Sage Mode from earlier!" He closed his eyes for a moment and started tracing the chakra sources out in the desert. "Well we have two choices it seems."

"Two? Oh this will be good." Kazumu said with a smug voice.

"We could either take the easy way. Leaving us with a few weak groups of Genin to the north."

"Or?"

"We could meet our only competition out here to the East. His group is all alone out there." Kazumu smirked hearing this.

"Lets do it!" Kazumu said with determination. "I want to fight this guy. To prove my training was worth it. To prove I can overcome this stupid weakness of mine. And also. I just know he has the Earth scroll we need. Somehow I just know it." The other two didn't say anything. They just nodded and they started walking. They went on for a while not talking as they came up to something they could see in the distance.

"Kazumu..." Naruto put his arm on his shoulder. "I sense a chakra coming from there and it's very faint even from this distance." His eyes widened and he started running over with the other two close behind. As they got closer they all began to see one colour in particular. Red.

"No..." Kazumu fell to his knees looking at the scene. All three Genin of this squad had been brutally attacked, soaking the sand with their blood, there was so much blood.

"It was them..." Kazumu looked over to see one of them was still alive, meaning this was the chakra Naruto sensed. "They said they didn't care about our scroll. They just wanted us dead. Have this. Please. You have to stop them before they-" His hand fell and went limp. He passed away giving Kazumu an Earth scroll that was soaked in his blood. Kazumu picked up the scroll and stood up.

"Kazumu? What are we going to do?" Kazumu didn't answer Naruto. Instead he put his hands to his mouth and whistled.

_"As you command." _Helios had returned and flew past Kazumu. He instantly jumped onto his back leaving Naruto and Konohamaru behind in the middle of the desert. All he could hear was them screaming at him. Telling him not to go. _"Shall I assist you?"_

"If you wish to. I can't leave this alone. I need to deal with it."

_"Yes master. I understand."_

"Stop calling me that. Kazumu is fine."

_"Yes, Kazumu." _Kazumu smiled as they came close to another group of ninja. _"I can see them."_

"So can I. Land next to them for me." Helios nodded and flew down to the ground landing next to the group. Kazumu jumped off and faced his enemy. "So it is you."

"You say this like you know me. You have no idea who I am." His voice was dark. Filled with hate and without reasoning.

"But I do know you. Or I should say I know your kind. Preying on the weak for no reason!"

"Your point?" He ripped the Sand Village headband off his cloak.

"I saw you. How strong you were. And all I could think of was how excited I was just thinking about fighting you, but."

"Spit it out." Kazumu looked up at him with a bloodthirsty gaze.

"Now all I want to do is kill you!" Kazumu jumped on Helios and performed some really quick handsigns. "Fire Style! Phoenix Flare!" Kazumu placed his hand on the back of Helios' head as he did this and a gigantic flame erupted from Helios, headed straight for the three ninja.

"Collaboration!?" The second ninja yelled and they all tried to jump out of its range which they did, but It burned off all remains of the cloaks hiding their identities. They landed back on the ground soon after. "Damn it! We paid good money for those!"

"We stole those you idiot!" The third ninja said, from the sound of her voice she was a women.

"Enough you two." The first ninja took charge. He had dark hair with a white long sleeved shirt, dark blue pants and what looked like a purple rope tied around his waist. He was currently holding a sword he had drawn moments before. The other two included a guy with white hair and a massive sword on his back and a red haired girl with glasses.

"Who the hell are you people?" Kazumu jumped off Helios once again and signalled him to leave, he responded by nodding and vanished in a puff of white smoke.

"Well I know you've heard about me at least once. And I've heard a great deal about you from the Akatsuki."

"But who out of them would've told you about me?"

"My brother, Itachi Uchiha." Kazumu was shocked by this and broke his stance.

"Then, that means you're-"

"Sasuke..." Kazumu looked behind him to see Naruto standing there.

"Naruto. I'm not here to see you. Go away." Sasuke ignored him and faced Kazumu. "I also heard Itachi called you his brother at one point. I can't accept this." His sword started discharging lightning chakra and he ran at Kazumu who had his head lowered and his eyes closed. "Now die!" He swung his sword down at Kazumu who proceeded to stop it with his hand, holding the tip of the blade.

"My turn..." Kazumu raised his head and delivered a powerful kick to Sasuke's stomach, making him slide backwards along the sand and cough up a small amount of blood. "Now, stop me if you've heard this one." Kazumu then bolted at Sasuke but didn't reach him. Instead he started running a perfect circle around him at lightning speed, making the sand kick up around him.

"But this is-" Sasuke was cut of by Kazumu's next kick, sending him flying into the air high above the ground. Kazumu then disappeared from sight.

"Where is he now?" The white haired guy looked around.

"Sasuke! Behind you!" The red haired girl yelled as Sasuke looked back seeing Kazumu.

"Dancing Leaf Shadow, but how?"

"Too late to question it." Kazumu's bandages unravelled, surrounding and binding Sasuke completely. They both together then started spinning towards the ground, faster and faster as they got closer. "PRIMARY LOTUS!"

End of Chapter 11.

I'm really sorry for the delay, i've had a busy week. Helios is a personal summon I created for Kazumu, i liked the idea of a phoenix so i went with it. I chose the same test because of two reasons, Naruto and Sasuke's reunion and I couldn't be bothered thinking of a new one haha. And while were on the subject Sasuke's appearance has a very big part to play so i'll try getting round to it very soon.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

_'Thoughts'_ will be done by Italic.

Big things are going to start happening so this should be fun. I will try and get these out asap.

Chapter 12- Hate of the Uchiha.

"PRIMARY LOTUS!" Kazumu screamed as he slammed Sasuke into the ground. He the stood at the side of the crater he made from the impact.

"Sasuke!" The red haired girl screamed. The smoke cleared showing Sasuke in the middle breathing heavily with a head bleed.

"As I thought. I couldn't get the full force of the jutsu because of the sand." Kazumu realized his mistake.

"Suigetsu! Cover me!" He bolted straight for Kazumu swinging his massive blade which Kazumu again stopped with one hand.

"What the well is wrong with you? How can you do that?" Suigetsu couldn't believe this feat of strength.

"A lot of Taijutsu training." He shook him off and began delivering blows all over Suigetsu's body, doing a massive amount of damage, then Sasuke jumped in between them and pushed Kazumu away. His injuries somehow gone.

"Thank you Karin." He said to the red haired girl standing behind him with her arm showing a series of bite marks.

"Well I guess that didn't work." Kazumu said as Sasuke charged at him again. "Not finished huh!?" He kept swinging his sword but failed to connect because Kazumu deflected every swing with his hands.

"Why...cant...I...hit you!" Kazumu then punched the sword out of his hands, making it land far away.

"Because of a technique I developed." Sasuke didn't care and went to punch Kazumu in the face, which he didn't stop this time, but the punch still didn't connect.

"What!?" He looked to see his hand about an inch away from hitting Kazumu's face but it had been stopped by a small barrier of chakra. "What is this!?"

"Using my mastery of the Byakugan I've created a shield similar to Gaara's sand shield, but mine is made out of pure chakra flowing from my chakra points." Kazumu punched Sasuke in the stomach making him spit out blood again. "This also enhances the Taijutsu I learnt from Might Guy, you can't beat me with Taijutsu or Kenjutsu no matter how hard you try." Sasuke jumped back.

"At least beating you isn't the goal here. I just needed to take your measure. I didn't really expect a clone could handle this." Sasuke smiled.

"What!?" And Sasuke who turned out to be just a clone vanished but his two subordinates remained.

"Just to be clear, we aren't clones. And our mission is to kill you, so no hard feeling pal." Suigetsu said sounding smug.

"Didn't he stop the Executioner's Blade just like Sasuke's sword?" Karin looked at him funny.

"So what!?" He looked really annoyed now.

"Can you two stop being idiots. I just want to avenge the group of Genin you slaughtered and be on my way." Kazumu looked even more annoyed.

"Wait that's the only reason? I thought you would want to stop Sasuke from-" Suigetsu was silenced by Karin.

"He's not supposed to know that you idiot!" Karin hit him on the head.

"What? What's Sasuke up to!?" Kazumu yelled out.

"You're going to have to beat it out of us!" Suigetsu and Karin both ran at Kazumu.

"Don't forget about me Kazumu." Naruto joined the fight, taking Suigetsu and fighting him sword to kunai whilst Karin came at Kazumu.

"I won't let you get to Sasuke!" Karin tried grabbing Kazumu but failed, being kicked in the stomach instead being sent a great distance across the desert and skidding across the sand. She already looked too beaten up to continue but she stood up anyway.

"Look you know you can't win. Even Sasuke knew this yet he left you to face us. He doesn't care about you so why bother?" Karin didn't answer him, she didn't even look at him. "With the power of the Rinnegan I could easily just absorb your soul and I'd have all the information I need, but I'm choosing to ask nicely." She started shaking on the spot she was standing on. "Come on just let me know what you have planned!" He grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground. "Tell me now or your silence will be permanent." She tried shaking of Kazumu's grip with all attempts failing.

"Kazumu! Stop it!" He looked back to see Naruto, Suigetsu was on the ground incapacitated. "This isn't you!"

"They had no mercy on those sand ninja, why do they deserve mercy!"

"They don't, but if you do this you'll be following the same path as them!" Kazumu snapped and realized what he was doing. He dropped Karin and she landed in the sand coughing and trying to catch her breath.

"I'm...sorry Naruto. I lost it. Seeing them in that state made me want nothing more than revenge." Kazumu fell back, sitting on the ground.

"I know it's hard to control yourself in those situations. Just take it easy."

"Where's Konohamaru?" Kazumu only just noticed he was missing.

"I sent him back to the village. This was too far out of his league." He said knelling down next to Karin. "Where is Sasuke?"

"I'm not telling you. I would never betray him like that!" Karin was stubborn even with Sasuke's obvious neglectful side towards her.

"We just want to talk to him. You have to understand that." Naruto was trying desperately to find out where Sasuke was.

"We were told only he can tell you..." Karin looked away.

"Who? Him?" He pointed to Suigetsu who had been reduced to a puddle of water somehow.

"No..." Naruto suddenly felt a strong chakra getting closer and he got ready for an attack.

"Kazumu! Someone's coming!" They both got ready with Kazumu taking his Strong Fist stance once again.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" They heard a maniacal laugh coming from behind them and they ducked as a figure went over them, smashing the ground after he missed. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" A orange haired man with half his face blackened and his arm morphed and disfigured was the source of this crazy, murderous voice.

"That must be him Kazumu, watch out! I sense Nature Energy within him!" Kazumu nodded and they faced the man.

"...kill...Kill...KILL!" He screamed charging at them and his other arm morphed as well, swinging a punch at Kazumu with his left and Naruto with his right. They managed to stop the blow but struggled to keep him held off.

"This guy's power is insane!" Kazumu yelled.

"I know, just hold on for a second!" Naruto had a clone set up already and he began forming a Rasengan.

_"Hi...Kazumu..." _Suddenly, Kazumu lost all feeling in his legs and he fell under the pressure of the deformed arm.

"GOT YOU!" He punched Kazumu right in the face making him slam into the ground and slide across the sand.

"What's happening to me..." He looked up at Naruto fighting the man and he hit him with a Rasengan that was shaped like a shuriken. The man escaped the blast but was smashed against the ground.

"_I have a feeling we don't have much time left Kazumu. A real shame but this will be the last time I speak with you. May we meet again in the real world someday my darling little Kazumu." _The strange source of Kazumu's nightmares gave his farewell and he could move again.

"What happened to you?" Naruto ran over to him.

"He said goodbye..." Naruto looked confused but he froze and realized what he meant.

"Wow..."

"Yeah..." They stayed silent for a while.

"Wait a minute! There's no time for this! Sasuke is going to fight with Itachi!" Kazumu snapped out of his depression and a look of horror melted into his face remembering Itachi's words.

_"When that day comes, don't do anything to stop it."_

"No... No no no no no! This is what he meant!" Kazumu started shaking. "I can't keep that promise!" He bit his finger and performed the handsigns to summon Helios. He erupted from the glyph giving Kazumu a nod like he already knew what was going on.

_"I know Kazumu. We must be quick." _Kazumu jumped on his back once again leaving Naruto behind.

"Stop Kazumu! You can't go alone!" He yelled this but Kazumu didn't listen.

_'I don't have time to wait around for anyone. I have to stop Itachi!' _Kazumu had Helios pick up speed.

_"Kazumu, I don't mean to question you but you have no idea where you're going."_ Kazumu's facial expression turned sour, only just now realizing this.

"Wow, I really didn't think about that. I guess having Naruto with me would've helped." Kazumu weighed his options, trying to think of the best way to find Itachi. "I need to track an Akatsuki member! It doesn't matter which one, as long as I can get information out of them." Helios nodded.

_"Where to then Kazumu?"_

"There's a hideout to the south-east of here. It's a bit out of the way but it's our only option at this point." Helios sped up once again, flying as fast as he could. _'Ok, I have to find a member of the Akatsuki. The best outcome would have me finding Kisame. With me gone he would go back to being Itachi's full time partner. I just need to find him and fast!' _

_"Kazumu, I'm sensing two powerful beings up ahead. Should we be cautious?" _Helios snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, yes be on your guard, it could be-" Suddenly it felt like time froze as Kazumu saw something familiar pass his eyes. A small, white, clay bird... "Dammit!" The bird lit up and exploded creating a massive shock wave that knocked Kazumu off the back of Helios and hurdling towards the ground smashing into it with a great amount of force. The left half of his upper body was singed with his clothes partially on fire. "Go... to hell Deidara..." Kazumu looked up to see his attacker. It was the young man from the One-tail sealing process who had his blonde hair in a ponytail. Closer observation showed he had some weird looking contraption on his left eye.

"I thought that was you flying on that winged fireball, hmm." As he said this Helios flew down to Kazumu's side. He let out a loud screech directed at Deidara putting him off balance. "Damn, you stupid bird!" Helios then surrounded Kazumu in his flames and when the flames died down Kazumu was standing there without a scratch on him. "What the... Why aren't you injured from my jutsu!? Hmm!"

"Just one of his abilities, he can heal all my injuries but he becomes unusable for a while. Not that I really have to explain myself to you, art freak." Deidara's face filled with rage.

"Shut up Kazumu! You're just another person who has no respect for my art!"

"Calm down Deidara! We have to find Sasuke!" Kazumu looked behind Deidara to see another Akatsuki member he hadn't seen before. He had the usual robe with black hair and an orange mask covering his face, leaving only a hole for his right eye.

"Keep quiet Tobi! With this little distraction we've lost Sasuke for sure. Hmm." Deidara yelled as he placed his hand inside a pouch he wore around his waist. "Because you made us lose our target I'll have to settle for dealing with you, traitor."

"I don't have time to play your little games Deidara. I have to get to Itachi!" Deidara looked furious now.

"Don't mention that name to me like that! Hmm!"

"Like I care what you think. Anyway why are you here? I thought the Akatsuki were putting their plans on halt?"

"Oh we were thanks to your little stunt, but as of last month we're back in business."

"Figures. So what are you all planning now?"

"Oh you're not going to get anything out of us. It's far too late for that."

"So we aren't going to tell him we have seven of the tailed beasts then?" Tobi butted in, spilling the truth that they had captured almost all the tailed beasts.

"What the hell Tobi! Quiet!" Deidara threatened the idiotic sounding Tobi while Kazumu stood there dumbfounded.

_'How the hell did they capture four tailed beasts in a month! That's insane!" _Kazumu looked back up at Deidara. "So what now?" Deidara smiled.

"Now I'm going to punish you for leaving us like you did!" Deidara jumped back and as he did he threw a dozen small clay birds at Kazumu. Kazumu rushed to the side to avoid them but as they detonated one by one, they got closer to him. As he thought Deidara ran out of birds, four of them that had circled around him a moment before trapping him.

_'I can't shake those!" _Just as Deidara was about to set them off Kazumu kicked all of them at once sending them flying away and exploding against several trees.

"Damn. So clo-" Deidara didn't even have time to finish his sentence because Kazumu had rushed over to him and landed a massive punch to his stomach. Making him fly out of the forest they were in and into an open field where he crashed against the ground. "I shouldn't have been taking it easy on you. Hmm." He got up and brushed himself off and put both of his hands inside two different pouches this time. "I think I'll try the C2 this time." He took them out and placed his hands together, then afterwards threw a small clay explosive into the air and performed a handsign making it expand into a giant clay dragon.

"What are you up to Deidara? You know you can't beat me." Kazumu said as the dragon took off into the sky with Deidara on it's back.

"That's rich. What do you think the Akatsuki have been doing over this year little Kazumu. Sitting on our asses doing nothing? Playing checkers? No! We've been getting stronger! The Akatsuki you knew had been left in the dust and we have risen up more powerful than ever!" Deidara proclaimed flying higher and higher.

_'How could I be so stupid! I wasn't the only one who existed this past year! I've been to concerned with my own growth that I forgot about them. The Akatsuki have grown as well and knowing how powerful they were before... I don't even want to imagine the strength they've gained over this year. Not to mention Deidara right now is flying high above me to avoid my Taijutsu, knowing it's his weak point. Well I guess I'll have to touch the sky then.' _Kazumu looked up to see Deidara had launched a salvo of multiple clay bombs going at high speed but they didn't hit Kazumu. They smashed into the ground around him and then Deidara performed the handsign.

"Die!" Deidara set them off causing a gigantic eruption of debris blasting skyward as his view of Kazumu was lost within the smoke and dust of the explosion. "Well it looks like that was too much for him. Hmm." The dust settled slowly and in the corner of his eye Deidara saw something. "Impossible!" Kazumu was very much alive, surrounded in chakra. It seems that he used his Byakugan's Absolute Defence to absorb the impact of the blast.

_'That was too close, but I can afford to use anymore chakra through my ninjutsu or dojutsu so I'm going to have to take them off.' _Kazumu's shield fell and his eyes returned to normal as he sat down on the ground.

"What are you plotting!?" Deidara yelled. Kazumu rolled up the bottom of his pants to show he was wearing standardized training weights on his legs. "Ha! Is this some kind of joke Kazumu!" Kazumu removed them and held them both up.

"You think it's a joke? Have a try for yourself then." He threw one as hard as he could aimed at Deidara's dragon and as it hit it when through the dragon's clay body seamlessly, tearing through it with no effort.

"What the?" Deidara confused didn't see Kazumu throw the second aimed at the dragon once again but this time when it went through it broke through the other side smashing into Deidara and knocking him right off the dragon. _'What was that made of! I feel like I just got hit by an entire building!' _While falling from the sky he began to recover when he noticed a shadow behind him. "How did you do that!?" He didn't receive an answer. Kazumu had readied for an all out attack.

"Gate Three! Gate of Life! Open!" As he yelled this he delivered a brutal barrage of punches to Deidara mid-air Hitting him so fiercely Deidara's clothing was being torn to shreds just from the speed the punches were being launched at him. _'Damn!' _Kazumu started to feel the recoil of opening the third inner gate and proceeded to deliver one last punch to Deidara sending him shooting towards the ground making a large dent in the ground as he impacted it.

"You...damn...brat." Deidara ripped off the remains of his cloak and shirt, showing he had a mouth hidden there sticking out of the left side of his chest. "I didn't think I'd have the chance to try this." He took a handful of clay from his pouch and put it in the mouth on his chest. Kazumu landed on the ground finally after the long drop.

_'I didn't think opening the third gate would leave me so weak. I did a lot of training with this so it doesn't make too much sense but maybe this is just more effects from my illness. What is Deidara doing right now should be my first concern though.' _The mouth on Deidara's chest was chewing the clay and it eventually stopped, it then opened slightly.

"Take this!" The mouth let off a small explosion that launched a clay bomb straight at Kazumu, directly hitting him and detonating as it hit, causing Kazumu to fall to the ground and spit up blood. "You like my new technique? It's basically a cannon using my bombs as ammunition. I detonate the first half of the bomb and it fires the second half like so. A perfect use of my art!" He readied the next shot. "Get ready. This one is going to have three times more kick!" He fired the shot perfectly aimed at Kazumu.

_'No way! If that hits me I'll die!' _Even with all of Kazumu's strength he couldn't move and the bomb hit it's target, this time causing debris to fly around due to the increase in power.

"I've got him this time. Hmm." The dust settled once more revealing that Kazumu was still standing but he was surrounded by something. "Why don't you just die! Wait a second, that cant be!" Kazumu was surrounded by what appeared to be a ribcage. It was yellow and see-through. Kazumu started running towards Deidara with the ribcage still around him. "How do you have the Susano'o!?" Kazumu yelled as he threw a punch at Deidara that ended up missing but Deidara was still hit by something sending him flying into a tree, slamming against it. It was a hand that had materialized that looked similar to the ribcage, being yellow and see-through. "...I guess I shouldn't be too surprised...Itachi did train you..." He struggled to stand back up.

_'Not even Itachi knew I could do this, but he did tell me about the risks of it and I don't even have the Mangekyo so it probably carries even more risk. I've never used it because of this but it was life or death there.' _He fixed his attention back to Deidara. "Why bother standing? You can't expect to keep fighting while your beaten up like that."

"I don't need to worry about that. You're about to be killed by my art!"

"You idiot. How could it when you can barely move?"

"Shut up! You have no respect for my art at all! How could you understand!"

"Quit it with all this art nonsense and tell me where Itachi is." Deidara froze. He sighed and placed his hand in his pouch taking out all the clay he had left.

"You shouldn't underestimate me. Hmm." He fed all the clay to the mouth on his chest and his veins began to show through his skin. "This is my ultimate art Kazumu. My C0, giving my life to become art itself. This was meant for Itachi, but..." The veins showed more and more and his skin began to fade away. "You've proven yourself worthy to be killed by my art."

"What a terrible way to die." Kazumu tried to run away from him but fell over due to the recoil of the Susano'o along with the damage he had already suffered from opening the third inner gate.

"It's no use Kazumu. Even if you did have the strength to move this blast will cover a twenty kilometre radius. Meaning you couldn't escape no matter what the circumstance. Hmm" Kazumu's face filled with horror. Deidara's skin was now completely gone and all you could see was his black veins and the black ball that was the mouth that ate the clay in the first place. "That's right! I'm going to leave behind a great scar on the face of the planet while you'll be dead! So go on. Cry your heart out!" The veins all gathered and it all came together in the black ball. "Because my art...IS AN EXPLOSION!" The black ball broke open and Deidara detonated releasing a gigantic explosion. Kazumu began running away but doubted that he could outrun a blast of this magnitude for very long in his condition. The blast got closer and closer and just as it was about to hit him Helios cut off the explosion covering Kazumu in flames, protecting him.

"No Helios! Don't do it!" Helios then reverse summoned the both of them to his realm but as he did he was caught in the blast. When they arrived at the place Helios had been reduced to a flaming feather. "Why? I don't want others to die for me!"

_"I'm very much alive Kazumu." _Kazumu surprised to hear his voice looked around to see him.

"Where are you then!"

_"I am the feather you see before you. I am a Phoenix so I should be back to my former glory in about a week." _Kazumu smiled knowing he was ok.

"Can you still get me out of here Helios?"

_"Yes of course I can. I shall see you soon Kazumu." _Before he knew it he was reverse summoned back to the place where he battled Deidara, which was now a gigantic crater with all the land pushed aside.

"Wow Deidara this is impressive, but I wouldn't call it art..." Mocking Deidara one last time Kazumu made his way out of the crater. "I need to recover the ground I lost, so I should start heading..." He cut himself off after he noticed something in the distance. Storm clouds were gathering but only around one area, everywhere else in the sky was clear. "Wait... One of the hideouts is there!" Kazumu tried running but realized how much damage he had suffered in his fight with Deidara and fell to his knees. "Damn it! Looks like I only have one option left..." He hesitantly activated the Rinnegan. "Deva Path..." He began to float above the ground and started flying towards the storm as quickly as he could. _'Thankfully my body is weak but I have a lot of chakra left, I guess that's the perk of using taijutsu the way I did.' _He went up a little higher to see the hideout from a distance. "The black flames of Amaterasu!?" Kazumu yelled as he saw black flames circling the entire area. "I have to hurry! If he's using that jutsu to an extent that insane things can't be going well!" He arrived to see the horrifying scene, floating above the battleground, Kazumu saw Sasuke backed up against a wall with blood dripping from multiple parts of his beaten up body and he saw something else that dwarfed Sasuke in size headed towards him. It was a gigantic entity that looked like it was made from pure chakra. Red in colour and it carried a massive red shield. In the center was a figure. It was sluggishly making it's way towards Sasuke, step by step getting slower and weaker. Kazumu started flying towards the fight and saw that the figure to discover it was... "ITACHI! STOP!" He looked back and the entity roared and vanished into thin air with Itachi falling to the ground as it did. "NO!" He flew as fast as he could but he couldn't hold the Deva Path's chakra consumption any longer, the Rinnegan faded and he fell to the ground sliding along it and just reaching Itachi in time for him to fall on top of Kazumu.

"...you promised...not to interfere...Kaumu." Itachi struggled to say breathing heavily. Blood was seeping from his mouth onto Kazumu's arm.

"If you had told me what you meant I would have never agreed to this..." Kaumu was crying now with his tears hitting Itachi's chest. Sasuke still against the wall fell down knowing he was no longer in danger.

"I knew that...it's the reason why...I couldn't tell you" Itachi's eyes were closing slowly with his words getting weaker. "I'm giving you this...just please don't let Sasuke...meet Madara." Itachi touched Kazumu's chest and a surge of chakra went through him.

"What was that? Itachi?" Itachi's hand fell to the ground.

"You...and Sasuke...you two were the reason I did this...the reason I had to die...let my mirror protect you after I pass."

"You gave me the Yata Mirror...that means-"

"I know you can use the Susano'o...just use all the power you possess to save this world...and the Leaf." His eyes closed and he smiled. "I know you and Sasuke can do this."

"No Itachi! I'm just going to use the Rinne-"

"Then let my dying wish be that you don't try to bring me back...I don't want you to die for my sake...you do realize in your current state, using that jutsu would be lethal..." Kazumu bit his lip hard making it bleed. Just knowing he couldn't do anything about it was painful.

"Goodbye Itachi..."

"Goodbye...brother."

End of chapter 12

Well I'm sorry yet again for delaying this. I've been pretty busy with the family. Regardless it looks like I have explaining to do. I got the idea of the Byakugan's Ultimate Defense from the punch Neji stopped from Naruto in the chunin exams just before he used the palm rotation. (See episode 61 for the inspiration. I thought it really was a good idea.) The timeline ive made has been very warped... ill try and map it out so everyone understands. So we have Kazumu coming into the story at the beginning which is just before the Search For Tsunade Arc of the real series (Episode 81). Then we have our first timeskip taking us to the beginning of shippuden. The story then carries it's normal pace until the end of the the Sasuke and Sai arc. Then halting the actions of the Akatsuki for the next year. By this i meant to keep Sasuke's actions going without moving the story forward. Letting the Itachi Pursuit arc take place before the story kept goingwhich means ive simply put this before the Hidan and Kakazu arc. but i guess it's not that simple. Naruto has already accomplished Sage mode before he even faces Pein. Which is why I have made every Akatsuki member still alive much stronger that they already were before the year gap. Giving them new abilities and strength. which means even along with the difference with the story just from Kazumu's existence it now takes another change with the main battles. everything else will go in the right order but it will be a lot different. I will try and get these out asap because writing them is really fun. oh and just so their is no confusion I looked up that the Susano'o can be activated before obtaining the Mangekyo. (All of this information was received from Naruto Wikia. It may not be correct but it's the best source I have.)

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

_'Thoughts'_ will be done by Italic.

Chapter 13-The Truth and What Happens Now.

"..." Kazumu was on the cold, hard ground holding Itachi's lifeless body. "..." His tears had stopped and he wasn't moving at all. Sasuke had gotten up and started walking over to Kazumu, his footsteps echoing through the whole area. Out of nowhere it started raining down hard, washing away all of Itachi's blood covering the ground.

"He's finally dead..." Sasuke was now standing over Kazumu. He was in shock and could barely stand.

"..." Kazumu's eyes were closed and he didn't say a word.

"This has been my goal all this time, yet don't know what to do now." Kazumu laid Itachi's body down on the ground and stood up. His eyes still closed. "What do I-"

"One..." Kazumu silently uttered this one word. "One more word and you'll regret ever living!" He opened his eyes to show his Sharingan active, it then morphed in shape looking completely different from before. In his right eye he had six parts arcing from the centre in a curved fashion and his left eye had ten part arcing in a similar way but four of these parts were thicker. Sasuke backed off seeing this new Sharingan. "I know why he did this... And I know it needed to be done... But I can't accept this!"

"What..? What are you talking about!?" Sasuke knew Kazumu was hiding something.

"I think I can answer that." Out of nowhere someone made his presence known. Kazumu identified him as the same Akatsuki member that was tagging along with Deidara. The man with the orange mask named Tobi, but this time the tone of his voice was completely reversed making him sound dark rather than stupid. Also Kazumu could see the man had the Sharingan clearly though his mask.

_'What? Oh no! He must know the truth about Itachi! I have to stop him from telling Sasuke.' _Kazumu rushed towards Tobi and punched but it didn't connect. It went right through him and Kazumu fell to the ground.

"Stay silent." Tobi picked him up by the throat, kicking Kazumu towards a chunk of rock and then used chains coming from his sleeves to bind him to it. "I need to have a talk with Sasuke." Tobi whispered into his ear and left him there, walking over to Sasuke. "We need to talk about a few things Sasuke. Things about your brother." Sasuke glanced to his side, looking down at Itachi's body. "Yes, that's right. I know a lot more about him than he thought I did. And a lot more than you."

"SHUT UP!" Kazumu yelled, struggling to break free of the chains that were binding him. "He didn't do this so you could ruin everything!" Kazumu's Sharingan in his right eye morphed and had three parts arcing from the middle instead of six and suddenly black flames erupted from nowhere encasing Tobi in them. He screamed in pain for a moment before completely vanishing.

"What did you do!?" Sasuke yelled at Kazumu.

"I didn't do anything." Kazumu felt blood dripping from his face, coming from his right eye. "But that was definitely the Amaterasu."

"Indeed it was." They both turned to see Tobi was back once again. "Itachi must have placed a jutsu within your eye. Even after he dies he still has plans like this. Just to keep me away from Sasuke."

"Why would he do that..?" Sasuke questioned, trembling from fatigue.

"Well he placed that Amaterasu into the boy so if he ever saw me and you together it would activate, aimed at me of course."

"What are you talking about..?"

"He transferred some of his visual prowess to him, just for you Sasuke."

"What are you trying to say to me? Why would Itachi do something like that?"

"Don't you get it?" Sasuke froze.

"Don't say another word!" The chains covering Kazumu moved and covered his throat. Squeezing it so he couldn't talk.

"He did it...to protect you." Sasuke fell back hearing this and landed on the ground. He was shaking uncontrollably.

"Protect...? To protect me? You can't be telling the truth."

"Oh but I am. You think you know who Itachi Uchiha is but you have no idea."

"If you keep lying to me like this I'll kill you too..."

"You really believe you could? In the state you're in? I highly doubt you could do anything to me." Sasuke flinched knowing this was true. "That's right, just make this easy on yourself and listen to me. I'm telling you the truth, for I too am a survivor of the Uchiha clan." He removed half of his mask to properly reveal the Sharingan in his right eye. "I, Madara Uchiha know everything about Itachi, but I'm almost certain he didn't know this."

"Shut up! None of this matters! Just leave me alone!"

"No. You're going to listen because you need to hear this story. About Itachi, who risked his life to save everything in this world, the Hidden Leaf, but most of all you, his little brother." Sasuke was breathing heavily, he looked stressed and agitated listening to Madara. "Do you know why he tried to protect you from me? Because he didn't want us to meet, or to talk. Listen to my story and you'll know exactly why that is. Besides me the only ones who knew the secret were the Leaf's Danzo, The Third Hokage and the two advisors Homura and Koharu." He looked over to Kazumu. "Although it seems that he told the boy about this. Maybe he was supposed to be the one to make sure this secret were never to surface, not that he was successful anyway."

"..how can this make sense...protect me? Itachi was my enemy! He slaughtered my entire clan!"

"Yes that night. It is true that he slaughtered your clan and fled the Hidden Leaf, but it was his mission to do so. He was ordered by the leaders of the Hidden Leaf Village. And that is only the beginning of the truth about Itachi."

"It was his mission...?"

"Yes, That night-" Suddenly something quickly approached them, dashed at Madara without him noticing and swung a punch at him that didn't connect in the slightest, but he was still his with incredible force and flew into the air, crashing into the ruins of the hideout Itachi and Sasuke fought in. Kazumu's chains were destroyed soon after, he and Sasuke were picked up by two others and taken away from the hideout at incredible speed.

"Are you ok Kazumu!?" Kazumu opened his eyes to see that he was being carried by Naruto and Sasuke was being carried by a shadow clone.

"Naruto? I wish you came earlier..."

"How is that any way to thank me?" Kazumu looked over to Sasuke. "What happened to the two of you. Did you fight each other?"

"No, nothing like that. I don't think now is the time to talk about it."

"Ok, I understand. I'll get you two somewhere safe and we will talk then." Kazumu nodded and Naruto picked up speed.

"...Kazumu?" Sasuke mumbled under his breath. "Is it true?" Kazumu didn't say anything back to him. He didn't want to say anything more about it. "I see..." None of them uttered a word as Naruto took them as far away from Madara as possible.

"Ok guys I see a town. We will find somewhere to rest up here." Naruto bolted towards it with his clone and while staying on the edge of town to avoid raising suspicion, found an abandoned house that looked like it was mostly still intact, until he opened the door just to have it fall off. "Umm, I didn't think it was this run down." He laughed nervously to himself.

"Idiot." Sasuke chimed in.

"You haven't changed I see." Naruto said as his clone placed him in one of the rooms and then dispelled itself. With the real Naruto placing Kazumu on an old couch in the living room.

"Thank you Naruto." Kazumu said, trying not to show the pain he was in.

"Hey hey it's fine!" He sat next to Kazumu. "But what happened to you and Sasuke?"

"Well, after I ran off I got in a fight with Deidar-" Kazumu sharply cut himself off after remembering something. "Naruto! The Akatsuki are back!"

"What!? Since when!?"

"A month ago according to Deidara and the worst part is that they have all but two of the tailed beasts!"

"All that in a month!? They weren't strong enough to accomplish that before so where has this come from?"

"Well while we were training in the last year, so were they..."

"That is some serious news. I'll have to tell the Hokage the second we get back to-"

"I'm not to sure about that right now. Did you forget Sasuke is with us?" Naruto's face went funny, only just now remembering this.

"Oh yeah I-" He was cut off once again to hear noise coming from the room Sasuke was in.

"Leave me alone! I can't leave yet!" They could hear Sasuke yelling from the other room when Naruto opened the door.

"You can't stay here with them Sasuke!" It was Karin, Suigetsu and the orange-haired guy from the fight in the desert, except he seemed extremely calm. Karin immediately went silent once she saw Naruto. "Oh hi! W-we weren't doing anything!"

"I can't leave yet." Sasuke interrupted her. "I need to talk with Kazumu..."

"Why!? We have to stop them from taking you back to the Leaf!" Karin yelled at him.

"I don't care. Until I hear the rest of the story from him I'm not leaving." They all remained quiet and Karin calmed down. "How much do you know Kazumu?"

"Everything." Kazumu hesitantly said. "I think it's my responsibility to tell you now. Only knowing that amount of the story may lead you down the wrong path."

"..." Sasuke gave a very sharp look to his group. "Get out." Karin and Suigetsu ran out of the room while Naruto and the orange-haired ninja left quietly. "...then tell me." Kazumu got off the couch slowly.

"You aren't well enough to be moving around." Naruto helped him walk.

"I just need to sit in the room with Sasuke. I'll be fine." He shook Naruto off as he got to the door and he closed it behind him, sitting opposite to Sasuke afterwards."What do you need to know?"

"Everything you do." Kazumu sighed.

"Ok then." He let out an even bigger sigh. "How do you remember Itachi before 'that night'?"

"Hmm. As a kind, gentle older brother I suppose." Sasuke sounded angry just saying this.

"Well that really is who he was. He took on the life he did to protect you."

"That's exactly what Madara said. But how can I believe that!? He tried to kill me, more than once..." Sasuke placed his hands over his face.

"No he didn't." Sasuke looked over to him as he said this. "If he was really trying to kill you, you would definitely be dead right now."

"How can you say that!? You make it sound like he-"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. He gave his life...for you Sasuke." Sasuke looked away from Kazumu again.

"Just tell me the story behind that night..."

"...after the attack of the Nine-tails the Uchiha clan was put under surveillance by the ANBU Black Ops and moved to the outside of the village, because suspicions arose suggesting that the Uchiha were planning to seize power in the village by staging a coup d'etat. They weren't at the time, but due to the mistrust that was shown from the village they did start planning to overthrow the village. It was about this time the village leaders planted a spy within the clan. That spy was your brother. And that was when Itachi began to suffer."

"There was going to be a coup d'etat...? And Itachi was a spy...?"

"Yes. And your father was at the centre of the coup. He was the one behind it. Making Itachi join the ANBU under his father's orders."

"What!?"

"Although not that he knew but Itachi was actually giving the village information on the Uchiha against his father's orders. It was one of the hardest things for him to do he told me."

"But if he was so against it why would he betray the Uchiha clan?"

"It's because he had the village in mind first. Because of his experience with was at the age of four. The leaders of the village knew this and used it. And that's when it happened. He was given his mission for he was the only one who could do it being a wielder of the Sharingan. He was ordered to kill his entire clan. But..."

"...what is it?"

"The Third Hokage didn't agree with this. He tried to resort to peaceful means. It was the work of Danzo Shimura that made the plan go ahead anyway, even though Itachi himself said he couldn't do it for one reason."

"And that would be?"

"He couldn't kill you. That's why Danzo gave him a choice. To kill his clan to spare your life. Or to die with his clan. And I guess you can tell by now what he chose to do." Sasuke was shaking, trying to bare with what he was hearing. "But that isn't the end of the story either. Before it all happened, the Uchiha began to suspect Itachi was a double agent, so they made his best friend spy on him. And that person was Shisui Uchiha."

"Shisui?"

"Yes. He was famous for his ability to use the transportation jutsu to extreme levels. Giving him the name Shisui the Teleporter. But that wasn't the only reason he was famous. He had a special Mangekyo Sharingan ability called the Kotoamatsukami and he planned to use this unique ability to stop everything from happening, for he was also against the coup alongside Itachi, but as he tried, Danzo stole his right eye away from him and entrusted his left one to Itachi and then..." Kazumu took a deep breath. "Itachi helped him commit suicide. Awakening his Mangekyo Sharingan."

"He did all..."

"He did all of this for the village and for you. Shisui wrote a suicide note, but the clan blamed him anyway, stating that Shisui committing suicide in this manner was unbelievable and believed that Itachi forged the note using his Sharingan."

"But during our battle...he used his Mangekyo Sharingan to such an extent! He must have been trying to kill me!"

"He had to press you to awaken your Mangekyo. That was the point in the battle. That and he had to make you be the avenger of your clan. A hero."

"He threw away his life for that!?"

"Yes. I understand it now. He needed to die for you Sasuke. And to restore the name of the Uchiha."

"But he couldn't have been like this..." Sasuke could barely see straight. "He was a member of the Akatsuki!"

"That was necessary to ensure that the Akatsuki wouldn't threaten the Leaf Village in any way. Because after all that he decided the Akatsuki was the biggest threat to the village. The village was always in his mind, just like you were. You need to understand that he wanted you to have a happy life after this was over."

"What are you saying?"

"He wanted you to return to the Hidden Leaf." Sasuke raised his head to show he was crying.

"How could I ever do that after what they put him through!?"

"But it wasn't the village that did it. It was an order given by Danzo! If he didn't push the situation in that direction it would not have happened that way. Also..."

"What now?"

"I would be very cautious of what you decide from here on out."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a warning." Kazumu activated his Mangekyo Sharingan. "Look at my eyes." Sasuke did so and noticed the difference in his eyes.

"Explain..." Kazumu closed his left eye to show only his right.

"This would be my Mangekyo Sharingan but as you can see..." He changed eyes, showing his left eye instead. "This eye is different, do you have any idea why?"

"Get to the point."

"As you wish. Itachi received Shisui Uchiha's left eye from him and he implanted that eye into me." Sasuke backed away into the corner of the room. "That's right. As of now I have use of the Kotoamatsukami, but I wouldn't use it like that. However, Itachi most likely placed a trigger within it, making it activate, targeting you if you were to threaten the Hidden Leaf. Although he never told me of this, I'm almost one hundred percent certain he would have done so."

"This is...this is unacceptable! You're basically blackmailing me! So if I don't want to return to the Leaf that accursed Genjutsu will make me!" Sasuke yelled refusing to make eye contact with Kazumu.

"As I said, I'm just warning you. I'd never want the Kotoamatsukami to make you come back to the Leaf. I want you to come of your own free will. It's what Itachi was hoping for you as well." Sasuke wiped away his tears.

"Itachi wanted me to return to the Leaf?"

"Yes. Trust me. I spent a while with him and even though he didn't mention your name that much, he would always talk about his little brother." Sasuke stood up with his eyes closed and opened them to reveal his Mangekyo Sharingan was activated. "I know the pain you must be feeling from hearing this is great. Especially if it awakened your Mangekyo, but you can't let it cloud you or control you. At least don't make your decision yet so you have time to think about it?" Sasuke de-activated his Sharingan and walked to the door. "Sasuke?" He opened it and walked out to everyone. Suigetsu and Karin were off to the side and Naruto and the orange-haired ninja were on the couch talking to each other.

"Is everything ok?" Naruto asked Sasuke with no reply being given.

"Naruto, not now." Kazumu had gotten up as well and gave Naruto a look, making sure he wouldn't venture further into it.

"I am..." Sasuke began talking as tears went down his face. "I'm disbanding the Hebi as of today, and I will be returning to the Leaf." Everyone in the room gasped hearing this, all but Kazumu and Naruto who both had massive smiles on their faces. "You all helped me so much in my mission. I thank you for that. What you do from here on out is entirely your decision. But with Itachi dead I can return to the Hidden Leaf."

_'I can't believe it. Not only is he returning to the Leaf. He's acting like he never heard any of this. Just like Itachi wanted.' _Kazumu could only smile as Sasuke had a little argument with Karin and Suigetsu. He didn't hear a single word being said because he was too busy thinking about how happy Itachi would be knowing this whole thing's outcome.

"Kazumu." Sasuke said interrupting his little daydream.

"Uhh, yes?" Sasuke walked over to him and whispered in his ear.

"If anyone else had told me this, I wouldn't be returning to the Leaf. It's because you understand how I feel and how Itachi felt that I'm choosing to do this." Kazumu stood there shocked that he made such a difference in his decision. "Thank you."

"I-it's fine..." Kazumu could barely speak.

"Well we need you two to be healed up before we can all go." Karin said this with shock coming from Sasuke.

"You three are coming as well?"

"Well when me and Jugo were talking he had already said that he would follow Sasuke no matter what he did." Naruto stepped in. "So I'm betting that the other two feel the same way?" Karin nodded while Suigetsu stood in the corner of the room looking pretty smug.

"Yeah. Something like that." He said and then looked away from everyone.

"Ignore the puddle over there. Come on already, we need to head off." Karin rolled up her sleeves to show a large amount of bite marks on her arms.

"What do you want us to do?" Kazumu stood there confused as Sasuke knew exactly what he was doing and bit Karin's arm. As he did she made a very sexual sounding moan. "Oh, um...ok then?" Kazumu did the same thing and bit her other arm with Karin making the exact same noise again.

"That's kinda weird..." Naruto said staring at the sight of two guys biting at a girl's arms.

"It's how her healing ability works. It drains the chakra from her to heal others. Because of her large amount of chakra she is able to do this. But only once a day." Jugo informed Naruto.

"Oh, I understand now. I think.." Naruto kept his thought to himself while the healing process had finished.

"Wow! I feel great!" Kazumu jumped up and down.

"Her healing ability really is amazing." Sasuke seemed fully healed as well.

"I'm glad...you two are...ok." Karin said as she began to fall when Jugo caught her before she hit the ground.

"I'll carry her for the trip." Jugo insisted and walked out of the house with Suigetsu close behind. Kazumu and Naruto were about to leave when Sasuke stopped them.

"Aren't you forgetting something Kazumu?" He thought hard for a second and understood what he meant.

"Itachi.." He had forgotten that Itachi's body was in the possession of Madara. "What are we going to do then?"

"We need to get him back. I won't allow Madara to have him."

"My thoughts exactly. Naruto could you-" He turned to face Naruto who was already on the ground readying his Sage Mode. "Bet me to it I see."

"What's he doing?" Sasuke asked, looking at Naruto funny.

"He's going into Sage Mode to track down Madara. He should be able to find him this way."

"Good. It looks like Naruto has gotten a lot stronger over the years."

"Yeah, he's gotten a hell of a lot stronger during the past year especially." Kazumu said as Naruto stood up with his Sage Mode active.

"I don't know what you two talked about in there, but I'm happy that things have turned out this way." Naruto closed his eyes and began to track Madara. "I can only sense two powerful chakra sources nearby so that has to be him."

"Then lets go and get Itachi back."

End of Chapter 13.

I need a break from writing because I seriously had to think about how I was going to go about doing this part of the story and this would have to be how I want it. On the subject of Sasuke I feel as if Itachi's story wasn't told to him by someone like 'Madara' he wouldn't have had the same reaction as he did. My philosophy for this is that Kazumu feels the same way towards Itachi as he does and he doesn't want to harm the Leaf. So Sasuke knowing this feels as though he shouldn't either.

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.


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